JK 
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iW85 

The   citizen  and 


iiojoiihuTJi.-"!^.- 


Jouthern  Branch 
of  the 

University  of  California 

Los  Angeles 


Form  L  1 


This  book  is  DUE  on  the  last  date  stamped  below 


^^H 


OOT  8      1929 


Form  L-9-15to-8,'24 


THE  CITIZEN  AND  THE   REPUBLIC 


Liberty  Enlightening  the  World 


THE    CITIZEN   AND   THE 
REPUBLIC 

A  TEXT-BOOK  IN  GOVERNMENT 


BY 

JAMES  ALBERT  WOODBURN 

PROFESSOR    OF    AMERICAN    HISTORY,    INDIANA    UNIVERSITY 

AND 

THOMAS  FRANCIS  MORAN 

PROFESSOR    OF    HISTORY    AND    ECONOMICS,    PURDUE    UNIVERSITY 


•       LONGMANS,    GREEN   AND    CO. 

FOURTH  AVENUE  &  3OTH  STREET,  NEW  YORK 

PRAIRIE    AVENUE    &    25TH    STREET,    CHICAGO 


526  33 


COPYRIGHT,  1918,  BY 
LONGMANS,  GREEN  AND  CO. 


Published,  December,  1918 


INTRODUCTION 

^     /'  I  AhIS  volume  is  intended  as  a  text-book  for  use  in  courses 
^    J_       in  Civil  Government  in  secondary  schools.     It  should 
follow,    or   accompany,    a   high   school   course   in    American 
History.     It  is  an  attempt  to  answer  the  demand  for  that 
which  is  needful  and  important  in  the  "new  civics"  some- 
times called  "community  civics,"  and   at  the  same  time  to 
hold  fast  to  that  which  is  good  in  the  old. 
'-,       In    introducing    an    educational    reform    there    is    always 
r^  danger  of  over-emphasis;    there  is  danger  that  we  may  not 
^  have   a  good   thing   without   having   too   much   of   it.     The 
^     authors    of    this    volume,    while    emphasizing    "community 
civics"    and    the    moral    purposes    in    teaching   government, 
have  sought  to  avoid  a  one-sided  course.     They  beHeve  that 
^the   schools   should   study    the   community  and  such  "new 


5CV  civics"    as  the    changing    times    call     for,    and    especially 
that  they  should  give  attention  to  current  history  and  present- 
day  problems  of  democracy;  but  it  is  equally  important  not 
^  to  neglect  certain  aspects  of  the  old  estabhshed  order.    It  may 
,?  be  well  to  set  pupils  to  the  laboratory  method  of  studying  the 
.  actual  life  of  our  city  communities,  — ■  how  milk  and  water  are 
^  supplied,  how  food  is  distributed,  how  public  health  is  pre- 
-'  served,  how  the  streets  are  kept  clean  (or  dirty),  how  the 
taxes  are  raised  and  used,  and  how  the  schools  are  sustained. 
But  to  Hmit  a  high  school  course  in  civics  to  such  a  field  of 
study  is  to  commit  a  great  wrong  to  young  people  who  are 
under  training  for  citizenship. 

The  field  of  civics  is  the  world.  Any  course  that  con- 
centrates the  pupils'  attention  to  their  own  village,  city,  or 
State,  to  the  exclusion  of  the  rest  of  the  world,  is  narrow  and 
fooHsh.     The   Constitution   of   the   United   States  is  still  in 


iv  INTRODUCTION 

running  order,  and  it  is  still  a  document  worthy  of  the  careful 
study  of  all  citizens  who  are  to  live  under  it.  The  State  and 
National  Governments  under  their  constitutions,  and  how 
these  Governments  are  conducted,  are  still  matters  of  prime 
importance  for  high  school  study  in  civil  government.  Teach- 
ers of  civics  should  not  be  encouraged  to  neglect  these  old 
fields  of  learning. 

We  should  seek  at  all  times  and  places  and  in  all  courses 
of  study  to  train  the  young  in  social  intelligence,  social  dis- 
position, and  social  efficiency.  Above  all,  every  possible 
effort  should  be  made  to  see  that  young  citizens  in  our  schools 
should  be  rooted  and  grounded  in  the  fundamental  principles 
and  ideals 'for  which  America  has  always  stood,  that  they 
may  come  to  understand  the  foundations  of  their  democracy, 
the  sources  of  their  liberties  and  the  means  by  which  these 
liberties  may  be  preserved,  and  the  deep  significance  of  Ameri- 
can citizenship.  This,  let  us  hope,  may  lead  these  citizen- 
rulers  of  America  to  aspire  to  such  national  and  international 
ideals  and  relationships  as  will  be  best  calculated  to  achieve 
and  cherish  justice,  peace,  and  democracy  throughout  the 
world.  This  volume  is  offered  as  a  contribution  to  this 
high  end. 


CONTENTS 

CHAPTER  PAGE 

I.     The     American     Citizen:      His  Rights  and 

Duties i 

II.    Present  Day  Problems  in  a  Democracy      .  32 

III.  The  Enlarging  Powers  of  Government  .    .  76 

IV.  The    Community   and   the    Citizen:    Local 

Government 94 

V.     City  Government no 

VL    The  States  and  Their  Government  ....  142 

VII.    The     Government     of     Territories     and 

Dependencies      167 

Vni.     Forms  and  Functions  of  Government  ...  173 

IX.    The  Constitution:  Written  and  Unwritten  182 

X.    The  Federal  Republic:    The  Relation  of 

the  States  to  the  Nation 196 

XL     Political  Parties,  Past  and  Present    .    .    .  203 

XII.    P.^rties  and  their  Machinery:  How  a  Party 

Nominates  and  Elects  a  President  ...  218 

XIII.  The  President 234 

XIV.  The  Senate     258 

XV.    The  House      271 

V 


VI 


CONTENTS 


XVI.  The  Relation  of  the  President  to  Con- 
gress: The  Cabinet  and  the  Executive 
Departments 301 

XVII.  The  Judiciary 323 

XVIII.  Money  and  Taxes 337 

XIX.  The  Nation  in  its  Foreign  Relations      .    .  355 

XX.  American  Ideals  in  Government 386 

AT   end   of    volume 

Appendix 

Articles  of  Confederation  —  The   Constitution   of    the 
United  States — Statistical  Tables 

Index 


LIST   OF   ILLUSTRATIONS 

Liberty  Enlightening  the  World Frontispiece 

Candidates    for    Citizenship     Taking     the     Oath     of  page 

Allegiance facing  4 

Facsimile  of  an  Australian  Ballot "  5 

Scientists  at  Work  in  Dairy  Laboratory,  U.  S.  Depart- 
ment of  Agriculture "  80 

Children  Working  in  a  Cannery "  81 

Employees'   Dining  Room  in  an  Industrial  Establish- 
ment   "  81 

A  New  England  Town  Hall      "  96 

A  New  England  Common "  96 

County  Court  House,  Memphis,  Tennessee "  97 

County  Court  House,  Mobile,  Alabama "  97 

A  Road  before  and  after  Improvement      "  106 

Beginners'  Class  in  a  Moonlight  School,  Knox  County, 

Tennessee "  107 

City  Hall,  Oakland,  California "  132 

Seward  Park  Playground,  New  York  City "  133 

Lincoln  Park,  Chicago "  133 

At  the  Milk  Station,  Mt.  Morris  Park,  New  York  City.  "  136 

A  City  Dispensary "  136 

Soldan  High  School,  St.  Louis,  Missouri "  137 

New  Central  Library  Building,  Indianapolis "  137 

State  Capitol,  St.  Paul,  Minnesota "  150 

State  Capitol,  Albany,  New  York "  150 

House    of    Representatives     of    State    Legislature    in 

Session,  Harrisburg,  Pennsylvania "  151 

A  Court  Room  for  the  Trial  of  Cases "  158 

Prisoners  Exercising  in  a  Prison  Yard "  158 

Facsimile  of  a  State  Law "  159 

Executive  Building,  Honolulu,  Hawaii       "  170 

Federal  Building,  San  Juan,  Porto  Rico "  170 

Government  Building,  Manila,  P.  I "  170 

Paying  $25,000,000  for  the  Danish  West  Indies,  March, 

1917      "  171 

Receipt  for  the  $25,000,000  Paid  for  the  Danish  West 

Indies "  171 

Facsimile  of  the  1 7th  Amendment  to  the  Constitution   .  "  192 

Repubhcans  Nominating  a  Presidential  Candidate  ...  "  224 

Democrats  Nominating  a  Presidential  Candidate    ..."  225 

Presidential  Campaigning  in  the  West "  230 

A  Political  Parade      "  230 

Crowd  in  Longacre  Square,  New  York  City,  Reading  the 

Election  Returns ' "  231 

The  White  House,  Washington,  D.  C "  234 

The  Executive  Offices,  Adjoining  the  White  House .    .    .  "  234 

vii 


viii  LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS 

PAGE 

A  Corner  of  the  President's  Study  in  the  White  House  .  facing  235 
President  Wilson  Taking  the  Oath  as  President  on  the 

Steps  of  the  Capitol "  238 

A  Presidential  Proclamation "  239 

The   Senate   Chamber,   Capitol   Buildinc;,   Washington, 

D.  C "  258 

U.  S.  Senate  Office  Building,  Washington,  D.  C.      •  .•    ■    • "  259 

The  Opening  of  a  Session  of  the  House  of  Representatives  "  282 

A  Congressional  Committee  in  Session "  283 

Office  Building  of  the  House  of  Representatives  .    .    .    .  "  283 

Facsimile  of  a  Federal  Law "        290  and  291 

Capitol  Building,  Washington,  D.  C "  302 

President's  Room  at  the  Capitol,  Washington,  D.  C.      .  "  303 
President  Wilson  Reading  a  Message  to  the  Joint  Houses 

of  Congress      "  3°6 

A  Meeting  of  President  Wilson  and  his  Cabinet  ....  "  3°? 

An  American  Passport "       31°  and  311 

State,  War,  and  Navy  Departments,  Washington,  D.  C.  "  312 

Department  of  Agriculture,  Washington,  D.  C "  312 

Patent  Office,  Washington,  D.  C "  312 

The  Treasury  Department,  Washington,  D.  C "  3^3 

A  Silver  Vault,  U.  S.  Treasury,  Washington,  D.  C.     .    .  "  3^3 

Chamber  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States      .  "^    '  33° 

Clearing  House,  New  York  City "  344 

Custom  House  Officers  Examining  Baggage  at  a  Steam- 
ship Pier "  345 

Government  Ins^ection  of  Groceries  at  Custom  House, 

N.  Y.    .    .    .   '. "  34S 

Pan-American  Building,  Washington,  D.  C.      .....  "  368 

Recognition  of   the   German   War   against   the   United 

States "  369 


MAPS   AND   CHARTS 

Diagram  of  Increase  of  Population  in  United  States   .    .  "                        33 

Direct  Democracy      |'                        42 

Specimen  Short  Ballot  for  a  City  Election ^^                        4o 

Ballot  Illustrating  Preferential  Voting ]^                        55 

A  Health  Message  to  the  People .    .    .  07 

Diagram  of  Increase  and  Decline  of  Immigration  smce 

i860      ■    •  "                        ^^ 

Chart  Illustrating  Extent  of  Immigration  for  Ten  Years 


71 


from  1907 ■   ,■  o'    ■    ' 

Per  Cent  of  Foreign-Born  Wliites,  etc.,  in  United  States, 

1910      ,( 

City  Expenses  and  City  Debt      .    .    .    ••.•••„■    •  "9 
Simplicity  of  Present  Charter  Comoared  mth  Old  Way 

in  Spokane,  Washington |]                      ^-7 

A  Gerrymandered  State ^^                       273 

The  Field  of  Congressional  Government    ..,...,  298 


THE 
CITIZEN    AND    THE    REPUBLIC 

CHAPTER  I 

THE   AMERICAN    CITIZEN:    HIS  RIGHTS   AND   DUTIES 

Who  are  Citizens 

A  CITIZEN  is  a  member  of  the  nation  who  owes  the  nation 
allegiance  and  is  entitled  to  its  protection.  Under  the  Old 
Confederation    (1781-1789)    there    were    no    citizens    of    the    ^*^*® 

TT-io  1  1  ••  ri  !<-.  Citizenship  and 

United  States;  the  people  were  citizens  01  the  several  States.    National 
The  United  States  had  nothing  to  do  with  citizens;   it  dealt    citizenship 
with  States.     The  nation  had  yet  to  grow.    The  central  Gov- 
ernment, under  certain  circumstances,  might  act  on  behalf  of 
a  State's  citizen,  but  it  was  understood  that  citizenship  was 
entirely  a   State  matter.     Even  after  the   Constitution  was 
adopted  there  were   doubts  and  arguments  as  to  who  were 
citizens  of   the  United  States  and  by  what  authority  they 
became  such.     It  was  contended  by  those  who  held  to  the 
compact    view   of    the    Constitution    that    one    could    be    a   • 
citizen  of  the  United  States  only  by  having  a  local  citizen- 
ship in  some  State  or  territory;  that  there'was  no  such  thing 
as  a  citizenship  at  large,  without  a  local  citizenship,  like  being 
a  sort  of  citizen  of  the  world.^ 

This  States  rights  view  of  citizenship,  expressed  by  the 
Supreme  Court  in  the  Dred  Scott  case,  while  it  recognized 
the  right  of  Massachusetts  or  Vermont  or  any  other  State 
to  confer  the  rights  and  privileges  of  its  own  State  citizen- 
ship upon  the  negro,  asserted  that  these  rights  and  privileges 

1  Calhoun  on  "The  Force  Bill,"  Works,  Vol.  II,  p.  242. 
I 


Amendment 


±  THE   CITIZEN   AND  THE   REPUBLIC 

would  be  restricted  to   the    State    which    gave    them.     The 

State  could  not  make  him  a  citizen  of  the  United  States  or 

give  him  a  right  to  become   a   citizen  of   any  other  State. 

The  Court  asserted  that  a  man  of  African  descent  and  slave 

birth   could   not,   under   the   Constitution,   become   a   citizen 

of  the  United  States. 

It  was  evident  that  citizenship  ought  to  be  made  certain; 

that  it  should  be  determined  by  some  common  authority. 
Definition  of  Sq  ^fter  the  Civil  War,  when  the  slaves  had  been  set  free 
^izenship  by  and  the  national  view  of  citizenship  and  the  Constitution  had 
the  14th  prevailed,  in  order  to  settle  all  controversy  and  to  give  equal 

"""""'     rights  to  all  men  alike,  white  or  black,  the  Constitution  was 

amended   and   for   the   first    time   clearly   defined   American 

citizenship : 

All   persons  born  or  naturalized   in   the   United   States   and 

subject  to  the  jurisdiction  thereof  are  citizens  of  the  United  States 

and  of  the  State  wherein  they  reside. 

This  is  a  part  of  the  Fourteenth  Amendment  and  it  makes 
clear  who  are  citizens  of  the  United  States.  No  State  has 
any  right  to  deny  the  privileges  of  its  citizenship  to  any 
American  citizen,  of  whatever  creed,  color,  or  nationaUty. 
"Born  in  the  United  States"  is  broadly  construed.  A  child 
of  an  American  ambassador,  if  born  in  the  ambassador's 
residence  in  a  foreign  country,  is  considered  a  "natural  born" 
citizen  of  the  United  States,  as  also  would  be  a  child  born  to 
an  American  sea  captain  on  his  vessel  in  a  foreign  port.  A 
national  vessel  is  like  "a  bit  of  the  national  soil  afloat."  Also 
all  children  born  out  of  the  limits  and  jurisdiction  of  the 
United  States  whose  fathers  are  American  citizens  at  the  time 
of  the  children's  birth  are  declared  to  be  citizens  of  the  United 
States.  If  they  continue  to  reside  abroad  they  must,  upon 
reaching  the  age  of  i8,  register  their  intention  to  remain 
citizens  and  become  residents  of  the  United  States  and  at 
21  they  must  take  the  oath. of  allegiance  to  the  United  States. 


THE  AMERICAN   CITIZEN:    HIS   RIGHTS  AND   DUTIES     3 


But  the  rights  of  citizenship  do  not  descend  to  children  whose 
fathers  have  never  resided  in  the  United  States.^  Children 
born  of  aliens  in  the  United  States  are  citizens  of  the  United 
States  unless  and  until  they  renounce  their  citizenship  by 
expatriation. 

Ways  of  Acquiring  Citizenship 

An  alien  woman  if  married  to  an  American  citizen  (native 
or  naturalized)  becomes  thereby  herself  a  citizen.  The  wife  is 
by  law  a  citizen  of  her  husband's  country.  Therefore  when 
an  alien  husband  becomes  naturalized  his  acquired  citizenship 
carries  with  it  citizenship  for  his  wife,  provided  she  belongs  to 
the  classes  allowed  by  law  to  become  citizens  of  the  United 
States.  The  wife  has  no  necessity  to  apply  for  naturalization, 
though  an  unmarried  woman  may  do  so.  On  the  other  hand, 
if  an  American  woman,  being  a  citizen,  marries  an  alien  she 
loses  her  American  citizenship.  By  widowhood  or  divorce  she 
may  recover  her  American  citizenship,  by  her  own  declaration.^ 

Children  follow  the  political  conditions  of  the  parents.  A 
minor  child  becomes  naturalized  or  expatriated  by  the  parents' 
action.  If  an  alien  who  has  begun  the  process  of  natu- 
ralization should  die  before  he  is  actually  naturalized,  his 
widow  and  children  are  considered  as  citizens  of  the  United 
States,  upon  their  taking  the  prescribed  oaths.  A  naturalized 
citizen  who  returns  to  the  country  from  which  he  came,  after 
two  years'  residence  there,  loses  his  citizenship,  unless  he 
makes  a  declaration  of  his  desire  to  retain  it  before  the 
proper  consular  or  diplomatic  officer. 

Some  are  born  citizens,  others  acquire  citizenship.  The 
population  of  a  country  consists  of  citizens  and  aliens.  Natu- 
ralization is  the  process  by  which  aliens  become  citizens.  In 
order  to  become  naturalized  the  alien  applicant  for  American 
citizenship  must  "declare  his  intention"  at  least  two  years 

^  Act  of  Congress,  1855,  Revised  Statutes,  Section  1993. 
^  A  bill  has  been  introduced  into  Congress  (19 18)   allowing  a  married 
woman  to  act  for  herself  and  choose  her  own  citizenship. 


Citizenship  of 
Women 


Citizenship 
of  Children 


Naturalization 


THE  CITIZEN  AND  THE   REPUBLIC 


Some  Aliens 
are  barred 
from 
Naturalization 


before  citizenship  can  be  fully  acquired.  To  do  this  he  must 
go  before  a  Court  of  Record  (State  or  Federal)  in  some  state 
and  take  an  oath  to  the  effect  that  he  is  at  least  eighteen  years 
of  age  and  that  he  desires  to  become  a  citizen  of  the  United 
States;  he  must  then  renounce  all  allegiance  to  any  foreign 
country  of  which  he  has  been  a  subject,  and  give  up  all  claim 
to  any  title  of  nobility  which  he  may  have  possessed;  he  must 
take  the  oath  of  allegiance  to  the  United  States  and  swear 
fealty  to  our  Constitution  and  our  laws,  and  he  must  inform 
the  court  on  certain  matters  touching  his  birth,  past  Hfe,  and 
immigration  to  America.  He  is  then  given  his  "first  papers," 
and  when  he  has  resided  in  the  United  States  for  five  years 
and  fulfilled  the  necessary  quaUfications  as  to  character  he  is 
given  a  certificate  of  naturalization  which  makes  him  a  citizen. 
By  the  law  of  1906  the  alien,  in  order  to  be  naturalized,  must 
be  able  to  write  his  own  language  and  be  able  to  read  and 
speak  English. 

Certain  foreigners  are  prevented  from  acquiring  American 
citizenship  by  naturalization.  Only  Caucasians  and  Africans 
are  given  the  privilege,  only  "free  white  persons"  and  "per- 
sons of  African  nativity  and  African  descent."  We  go  to  the 
extremes  in  colors,  including  the  whites  and  the  blacks,  but 
leaving  out  the  yellows  and  the  browns.  This  seems  like  an 
absurd  distinction  in  our  law.  Yet  no  Asiatics  may  be  natural- 
ized. No  Mongolians  or  Malays,  Chinese,  Japanese,  Burmese, 
or  East  Indians  can  become  citizens  of  the  United  States 
unless  they  are  born  here  or  are  permitted  to  become  citizens 
by  a  special  act  of  Congress.  The  Turk  is  not  excluded 
or  the  Armenians,  and  an  exception  has  been  made  in  favor  of 
the  Filipinos  and  Samoans.  Polygamists,  anarchists,  and 
certain  other  classes  of  criminals  may  not  be  naturalized; 
they  are  not  considered  worthy  of  our  citizenship.^ 

^  The  Bureau  of  Naturalization  recommends  ability  to  speak  the 
English  tongue  as  a  prime  requisite  in  training  the  alien  population 
in  American  citizenship.  "It  is  through  this  medium  alone  that  aliens 
can  acquire  a  practical  knowledge,  both  in  and  out  of  the  schools,  of  our 


3  5 


Facsimile  of  an  Australian  Ballot,  National  and  State  Ticket 


THE  AMERICAN  CITIZEN:    HIS   RIGHTS  AND   DUTIES     5 


Citizenship  in 

Acquired 

Territories 


There  are  other  ways  of  acquiring  citizenship  than  by- 
birth  and  naturahzation.  When  the  United  States  acquires 
territory  it  may  confer  citizenship  upon  the  whole  body  of 
people  residing  therein.  This  may  be  done  by  the  treaty 
of  acquisition,  or  by  an  act  of  Congress.  Citizenship  was 
guaranteed  by  the  acquiring  treaty  to  the  inhabitants  of  Louisi- 
ana (1803),  of  Florida  (1819),  of  California  and  the  Mexican 
Cessions  (1848),  Alaska  (1867),  and  in  1900  an  act  of  Congress 
provided  that  all  persons  who  were  citizens  of  Hawaii  at  the 
time  of  its  acquisition  by  the  United  States  (1898)  should  be 
admitted  to  citizenship.  The  inhabitants  of  Porto  Rico  and 
the  Philippines  were  not  made  citizens  in  the  treaty  following 
the  Spanish- American  War  (1898),  but  the  Porto  Ricans  by 
an  act  of  Congress  signed  by  President  Wilson  March  2, 
191 7,  were  made  American  citizens,  and  this  could  be  done 
by  Congress  for  the  Philippines  at  any  time.  The  Constitu- 
tion does  riot  "follow  the  flag"  of  its  own  strength  {ex  propio 
vigor e),  in  the  way  of  extending  citizenship  over  acquired 
peoples,  but  a  treaty  law  or  a  law  of  Congress  is  required  to 
incorporate  a  territorial  group  of  alien  people  into  our  body 
politic.  Congress  has  repeatedly  conferred  citizenship  upon 
whole  tribes  of  Indians  on  breaking  up  their  tribal  relations. 

An  American  may  renounce  his  citizenship  and  become 
a  citizen  or  subject  of  a  foreign  power.  "Once  a  citizen  always 
a  citizen"  was  a  familiar  saying  a  hundred  years  ago.  It 
meant  that  citizenship  was  indelible,  —  it  could  not  be  erased,    citizenship 

may  be  lost: 

destroyed,  or  renounced.     The  idea  was  opposed  in  America   Expatriation 
as  it  was  desired  to  have  Europeans  become  naturalized  in  the 
United  States.     Great  Britain  favored  the  principle,  as  she 
wished  to  maintain  a  claim  upon  the  services  of  her  citizens. 

institutions.  This  will  lay  the  necessary  foundation  for  instruction 
in  some  simple  outline  of  American  civics,  the  duties  and  the  obligation 
as  well  as  the  privileges  and  immunities  of  American  citizenship.  Above 
all  they  should  be  taught  that  the  supreme  authority  in  this  country 
is  the  law  and  that  the  first  duty  of  an  American  citizen  is  obedience 
to  that  law." 


6  THE  CITIZEN   AND  THE   REPUBLIC 

Now  most  European  nations  admit  the  right  of  expatriation, 
that  is,  the  right  of  a  citizen  or  subject  to  renounce  his 
country  and  become  the  adopted  citizen  of  another  country. 
This  is  agreed  to  by  treaties  between  nations. 

"Dual  Nationality"  or  "Double  Allegiance" 

Different  countries  have  different  laws  relating  to  nationality 
and  allegiance.  On  this  account  the  terms  "dual  nationality" 
and  "double  allegiance"  have  been  used  in  international  law. 
May  a  citizen's  allegiance  and  service  be  claimed  by  two  coun- 
tries? This  would  seem  to  be  inconsistent,  if  not  absurd. 
As  a  man  cannot  serve  two  masters,  so  two  nations  may  not 
claim  a  citizen's  allegiance.  No  person  can  be  a  citizen  of 
two  countries. 

But  there  is  a  conflict  of  laws  on  this  subject  which  has  given 
rise  to  much  discussion.  Each  nation  claims  the  right  to  de- 
termine for  itself,  according  to  its  own  constitution  and  laws, 
what  class  of  persons  shall  be  entitled  to  its  citizenship  and 
whose  allegiance  it  will  claim.  Our  constitution  says  that  all 
persons  born  in  the  United  States  are  citizens  of  the  United 
States  whether  born  of  parents  who  are  citizens  or  aliens. 
But  Germany  claims  as  German  subjects  the  children  of  Ger- 
man subjects  wherever  they  may  be  born,  and  by  a  German 
law  of  1913  that  country  encourages  Germans  who  go  to 
other  parts  of  the  world  to  retain  their  allegiance  to  Ger- 
many, even  though  they  may  go  through  the  form  of  offering 
their  allegiance  to  another  nation.  Also  the  French  Civil 
Code  claims  as  Frenchmen  "every  person  born  of  a  French- 
man, in  France  or  abroad."  The  French  law  of  citizenship 
is  not  territorial  but  national.  France  applies  the  law  of  race 
or  blood  (jus  sanguinis),  while  the  United  States  applies  the 
law  of  the  land  or  the  place  (jus  soli). 

Thus  may  arise  a  conflict  of  claims.  In  case  of  an  American 
child  born  in  France  and  of  a  French  child  born  in  America 
there   may   be  a   claim   of   a   double   citizenship  or  double 


THE  AMERICAN   CITIZEN:    HIS   RIGHTS   AND   DUTIES     7 

allegiance.  Both  countries  may  claim  both  children.  The 
French  boy,  born  in  America  and  grown  to  manhood,  if  he 
should  go  to  France  might  be  claimed  and  forced  into  military 
service  by  that  country,  from  which  his  American  citizenship, 
acquired  by  birth  in  this  country,  might  not  be  able  to  protect 
him.  Our  Department  of  State  recently  said  to  a  young  man 
born  of  French  parents  in  New  Orleans  who  wished  to  know 
if  his  American  citizenship  would  protect  him  from  compulsory 
military  service  in  France  if  he  should  go  to  that  country, 
"It  thus  appears  that  you  were  born  with  a  dual  nationality, 
French  under  French  law,  American  under  American  law, 
and  the  Department  cannot  therefore  give  you  any  assurance 
that  you  would  not  be  held  liable  for  the  performance  of  mili- 
tary service  in  France,  should  you  voluntarily  place  yourself 
within  French  jurisdiction." 

These  conflicting  claims  to  allegiance  should  be  settled  by 
neighborly  international  agreements.  Japan  has  passed 
such  a  law,  releasing  from  allegiance  Japanese  born  in  other  „     ^ 

;  .      ^  '^  -'    ^  One  Citizenship, 

lands.     It  is  a  friendly  act  toward  the  United  States,  doing  one  Allegiance 

away    with    the    evil    of    double    allegiance.     Each    country 

should  provide  a  way  by  which  a  child  born  in  a  foreign 

country  should  become  a  citizen  of  that  country  if  he  remains 

there.     Or,  a  conflict  might  be  avoided  by  the  acceptance  of 

the  idea  that  "the  duties  of  allegiance  are  determined  by  the 

laws  of  that  one  of  the  two  countries  in  which  the  citizen 

actually  is;  or  that  a  child  in  attaining  his  majority  has  the 

right  to  elect  which  of  the  two  allegiances  he  will  retain,  and 

this  election  he  should  be  required  to  make." 

It  is  certain  that  a  "double  allegiance"  cannot  be  tolerated 
in  America.  Subjects  of  European  nations  who  come  to  this 
country,  take  the  oath  of  allegiance  to  America  and  become 
naturalized  citizens  cannot  be  allowed  to  acknowledge  alle- 
giance to  any  European  nation.  Such  "hyphenated  citizens" 
would  be  dangerous  in  any  country.  Loyalty  to  America 
is  expected  of  all. 


8  THE  CITIZEN   AND  THE   REPUBLIC 

America  contends,  as  it  has  always  contended,  for  the  doc- 
trine of  voluntary  expatriation  and  that  an  European  who  has 
migrated  to  this  country  and  become  a  citizen  here  owes  alle- 
giance to  America  only.  And  their  children  born  in  this  coun- 
try owe  their  first  and  only  allegiance  to  America.  To  admit 
a  "double  allegiance"  in  such  cases  would  be  to  deny  the 
validity  of  the  long-standing  American  position  against  the 
doctrine,  "Once  a  citizen  always  a  citizen."  A  citizen  of 
America  may  forswear  his  allegiance  and  become  a  citizen 
of  another  country.  His  status  and  allegiance  would  then 
be  clear.  Likewise,  when  aliens  become  citizens  of  the  United 
States  by  naturalization  they  forswear  their  old  allegiance 
and  take  on  a  new.  They  may  not  acknowledge  both.  So, 
when  the  government  of  Austria-Hungary  forbade  former 
subjects  of  that  country  who  had  been  naturalized  in 
America,  to  work  in  American  munition  factories,  or  when 
it  was  stated  that  under  the  German  law  of  nationality  (of 

January  i,  19 14)  Germans  who  may  have  acquired  naturali- 
zation in  America  may  under  certain  conditions  retain  their 

German  allegiance,  these  powers  made  a  demand  that  no 
foreign  nation  had  any  power  to  enforce  or  any  right  to 
claim.  Foreigners  living  and  working  in  America  without 
having  been  naturalized  are  subject  to  the  call  of  their 
former  government  only  to  the  extent  that  they  themselves 
may  voluntarily  recognize;  no  foreign  government  can  ex- 
ercise jurisdiction  or  in  any  way  compel  any  action  over 
aliens  while  they  are  domiciled  in  this  country.  "Every  in- 
dependent State  has,  as  one  of  the  incidents  of  its  sovereignty, 
the  right  of  legislation  and  jurisdiction  over  all  persons  within 
its  territory,"  and  no  sovereignty  can  extend  its  jurisdiction 
beyond  its  own  territorial  limits.^ 

'  Secretary  Fish  to  the  President,  August  25,  1873,  Foreign  Relations, 
1873;  11,  1186,  1191-1192.  On  this  subject  of  "Double  Nationality" 
or  "Double  Allegiance,"  see  John  Bassett  Moore's  Lilernational  Law 
Digest,  Vol.   Ill,   pp.   518-551.     Also  report    on    "Citizenship    of    the 


THE  AMERICAN   CITIZEN:    HIS   RIGHTS  AND   DUTIES     9 

The  Republic  can  recognize  in  its  citizenship  but  one 
standard,  —  the  standard  of  loyalty  to  one  country,  one  gov- 
ernment, one  flag,  one  allegiance.  This  unity  and  loyalty  in 
citizenship  requires  but  one  language,  "  the  language  of  the 
Declaration  of  Independence,  of  Washington's  Farewell  Ad- 
dress, of  Lincoln's  Gettysburg  Speech." 

"  Americans  are  the  children  of   the  crucible.      From   the    The  "  Children 
melting  pot  of  life  in  this  free  land  all  men  and  women  of  all    l^^  „^  ^^^ ' 
nations  who  come  hither  emerge  as  Americans  and  nothing    "  Melting  Pot " 
else.      They  must    have  renounced  completely  and  without 
reserve  all  allegiance  to  the   land  from  which   they  or  their 
forefathers  came.      And  it  is  a  binding  duty  on  every  citizen 
of  this  country  in  every  important  crisis  to  act  solidly  with 
all  his  fellow  Americans,  having  regard  only  to  the  honor  and 
interest  of  America,  treating  every  other  nation  purely  on  its 
conduct  in  that  crisis,  without  reference  to  his  ancestral  pre- 
dilections or  antipathies.      If  he  does  not  so  act  he  is  false  to 
the  teachings  and  the  lives  of  Washington  and  Lincoln;   he  is 
not  entitled  to  any  part  or  lot  in  our  country  and  he  should 
be  sent  out  of  it."  ^ 

United  States,"  House  Document,  No.  326,  59th  Congress,  2d  Session, 
1906.  This  Report  prepared  for  Congress  by  James  B.  Scott,  Solicitor 
of  the  Department  of  State,  David  Jayne  Hill,  Minister  to  the  Nether- 
lands, and  Gaillard  Hunt,  Chief  of  the  Passport  Bureau,  recognized 
the  "dual  allegiance  and  conflict  of  citizenship"  to  which  the  text 
refers,  but  it  did  not  prescribe  a  plan  for  settling  questions  of  double 
nationality  beyond  recommending  a  law  requiring  persons  born  abroad 
of  American  citizens  who  should  elect  American  citizenship  rather 
than  that  of  the  country  of  their  birth  to  make  a  formal  declaration 
to  that  effect  before  an  American  consul  upon  reaching  the  age  of 
eighteen  years,  and  to  take  the  oath  of  allegiance  to  the  United  States 
upon  reaching  twenty-one.  This  is  now  required.  Richard  W.  Flournoy, 
Chief  of  the  United  States  Bureau  of  Citizenship  in  the  Department 
of  State  at  Washington,  had  an  article  on  "Problems  of  Dual  Nation- 
ality" in  the  New  York  Times  of  September  12,  1915,  Magazine  Section. 
See  also,  "When  is  an  American  not  an  American?"  by  Theodore  Roose- 
velt in  Metropolitan  Magazine  for  June,  1915. 

^  Theodore  Roosevelt,  in  The  Children  of  the  Crucible. 


10 


THE  CITIZEN  AND  THE   REPUBLIC 


Who  are 
Voters? 


Fifteenth 
Amendment 


All  Citizens  are 
not  Voters:  All 
Voters  are  not 
Citizens 


Citizenship  and  Suffrage 

Voters  are  those  who  take  part  in  elections  to  choose  the 
officers  of  the  government  or  who,  by  the  expression  of  their 
opinion  or  desire  at  the  ballot  box,  help  to  determine  the  gov- 
ernment's policy.  Voting  has  always  been  determined  by  the 
State,  not  by  the  United  States.  It  was  not  until  after  the 
Civil  War  that  any  restriction  was  placed  on  the  State  in  this 
respect;  then  by  the  Fifteenth  Amendment  it  was  decreed 
that  the  right  of  citizens  of  the  United  States  to  vote  shall 
not  be  denied  or  abridged  by  the  United  States  or  by  any  State 
on  account  of  "race,  color,  or  previous  condition  of  servitude." 
This  was  to  prevent  the  Southern  States  from  denying  suffrage 
to  the  blacks  who  had  been  made  citizens  by  the  Fourteenth 
Amendment,  and  who  had  been  made  voters  in  the  seceding 
States  by  the  Reconstruction  Acts  of  Congress  as  a  condi- 
tion of  the  readmission  of  the  ex-confederate  States  into  the 
Union.  The  Fourteenth  Amendment  left  suffrage  entirely  to 
the  States,  but  it  offered  a  premium  for  negro  suffrage  by 
providing  that  if  any  State  denied  the  suffrage  to  any 
United  States  citizen  above  21  (except  for  crime  or  partici- 
pating in  the  Rebellion),  its  representation  in  Congress  should 
be  reduced  accordingly.  Barring  these  provisions  of  the  Con- 
stitution, every  State  is  free  to  make  its  own  suffrage  laws. 

Citizenship  and  voting  do  not  necessarily  go  together. 
All  citizens  are  not  voters.  Some  States  have  given  full 
suffrage  to  women.  In  other  States  women  citizens  may  vote 
in  local  school  elections,  or  on  certain  tax  questions,  or  for 
offices  not  created  by  the  State  constitution,  while  in  still 
other  States  women  are  not  allowed  to  vote  at  all.  Children 
are  citizens,  but  they  are  not  allowed  to  vote  in  any  State 
because  they  are  still  under  the  control  of  others. 

Just  as  all  citizens  are  not  voters,  so  some  voters  are  not 
citizens,  since  in  some  States  aliens  who  have  merely  declared 
their  intention  to  become  citizens  are  allowed  to  vote.     This 


THE  AMERICAN  CITIZEN:   HIS  RIGHTS  AND  DUTIES     II 

is  true  in  eleven  States,— Alabama,  Arkansas,  Indiana,  Kansas, 
Michigan,  Missouri,  Nebraska,  Oregon,  South  Dakota,  Texas, 
Wisconsin.  A  residence  requirement  of  from  six  months  to 
two  years  is  imposed.  It  would  seem  that  a  State  should 
require  a  voter  to  be  a  full-fledged  citizen  of  the  United  States. 
Many  thousands  of  foreigners  under  the  influence  of  political 
workers  "declare  their  intention"  merely  for  voting  purposes 
without  completing  or  really  intending  to  complete  their 
naturalized  citizenship. 

It  is  important  always  to  keep  in  mind  that  the  States  deter- 
mine who  may  vote.  A  State  could  allow  boys  of  eighteen 
to  vote  or  not  permit  men  to  vote  until  they  are  twenty-five, 
though  the  loss  of  representation  in  Congress  required  in  the    The  states 

,  .    ,     ,      •  ,  r  1  i.   •    i-  determine  the 

Fourteenth  Amendment  might  be  imposed  for  such  a  restriction,    p^vuege  of 
Who  may  vote  for  President  and  Vice  President  and  members    Voting 
of  Congress,  as  well  as  for  all  State  officers,  depends  entirely 
upon  the  constitution  and  laws  of  the  State.     The  only  thing 
the  Constitution  of  the  United  States  says  about  the  suffrage 
(apart  from  the  Fourteenth  and  Fifteenth  amendments,  to 
which  we  have  referred)  is  that  those  persons  may  vote  who  are 
qualified  to  vote  for  "the  most  numerous  branch  of  the  State 
legislature."     When  the  Constitution  was  made  it  was  not 
expected  that  the  people  would  be  allowed  to  vote  for  Presi- 
dent and  Vice  President  and  United  States  Senators;  so  in 
dealing  with  the  suffrage  the    Constitution  referred  only  to 
voters  (electors)  in  their  choice  of  the  House  of  Representatives. 
But  the  rule  for  voting  mentioned  above  has  always  held  good. 
All  the  States  require  their  voters  to  be  twenty-one  years 
of  age.     Connecticut  requires  an  educational  test;    there  no 
one  may  vote  who  cannot  write  his  name  and  read  a  section 
of  the  Constitution  and  laws  in  the  English  language.     Some    Q^^^jXations 
States  require  a  poll  tax,   varying  from  fifty  cents  to  two   m  the  States 
dollars.     Most  States  require   a  registration  of  the  voters. 
Some  of  the  Southern  States  have  required  certain  property 
and  educational  qualifications  as  a  means  of  preventing  the 


12  THE   CITIZEN   AND  THE   REPUBLIC 

negroes  from  voting,  while  by  "grandfather  clauses"  and  other 
devices  ignorant  whites  were  exempted  from  these  tests.  A 
"grandfather  clause"  provided  that  all  citizens  and  their  de- 
scendants who  were  voters  prior  to  1867,  when  negro  suffrage 
was  imposed,  were  not  required  to  undergo  the  tests.  The 
"grandfather  laws"  virtually  violate  the  Fifteenth  Amend- 
ment, and  the  Supreme  Court  has  so  declared  in  an  Oklahoma 
case  (191 5).  But  these  restrictions  are  temporary  and  are 
passing  away.  The  tendency  in  all  the  States  is  toward  a 
wide  suffrage  on  liberal  terms. 

Nearly  all  writers  in  political  science  hold  that  voting  is 
not  a  "right"  but  a  "privilege,"  and  it  has  always  been 
treated  as  such  in  practice.  Whether  voting  is  a  right  or  a 
privilege  is  largely  an  academic  question  of  no  practical 
importance.  It  does  not  make  much  difference  to  those  who 
want  the  privilege;  they  insist  upon  it  as  a  right.  And  very 
few  of  those  who  enjoy  the  privilege  and  would  deny  it  to 
others  are  willing  to  surrender  it:  they  look  upon  it  and  hold 
to  it  as  one  of  their  most  precious  rights.  Technically,  as  a 
matter  of  political  science,  suffrage  is  a  privilege  conferred 
by  the  State.  But  a  "privilege"  sometimes  becomes  a 
"right,"  though  it  is  hard  to  tell  just  when,  and  it  is 
sometimes  very  difficult,  if  not  impossible,  to  distinguish 
between  the  two.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  all  our  so-called 
rights  —  Ufe,  liberty,  property  —  are  held  at  the  behest 
and  under  the  authority  of  the  State.  Without  having 
committed  any  crime  a  citizen  may  be  deprived  of  his 
liberty  (under  ciuarantine)  or  he  may  be  set  in  the  battle 
line  against  his  will  and  be  deprived  of  his  life  in  the  defense  of 
his  country.  His  property  may  at  any  time  be  taken  against 
his  protest  under  the  right  of  eminent  domain.  The  welfare 
of  the  State  determines  it  all.  So  those  who  contend  for 
suffrage  as  a  right  very  reasonably  insist  that  those  who  would 
deny  it  to  qualified  citizens  should  show  that  the  welfare  of 
the  State  demands  its  denial. 


THE  AMERICAN  CITIZEN:   HIS  RIGHTS  AND  DUTIES     13 


Our  democratic  disposition  is  to  look  upon  the  suffrage 
not  only  as  a  political  privilege  but  as  a  personal  right.  It 
belongs  to  the  personality  of  citizens,  not  to  their  property 
or  attainments  or  color  or  sex  or  creed.  It  is  like  a  right  of 
representation,  belonging  to  every  member  of  the  nation  who 
is  a  person.  Formerly  only  the  interests  in  the  State  were 
represented,  meaning  only  property  interests,  but  now  we  see 
that  a  man's  interest  in  the  State  and  its  laws  is  far  wider  than 
his  property.  The  poorest  man  in  town  is  interested  in  the 
way  justice  is  administered.  The  woman  who  sends  her  chil- 
dren to  school  may  have  no  property  she  can  call  her  own,  but 
she  is  interested  in  the  safety  of  the  streets  and  in  the  sanitary 
condition  of  the  schoolhouse.  So  we  think  of  representation 
in  the  State  as  belonging  to  a  person.  A  person  is  one  who 
has  a  free  will,  who  can  think  and  act  for  himself.  Children, 
the  dependent,  the  demented,  the  insane,  the  idiot,  the  intoxi- 
cated, and  convicts,  —  these  are  not  allowed  to  vote  because 
they  are  not  under  their  own  control.  The  law  does  not  hold 
them  as  responsible  persons;  the  need  of  guardians  for  them 
is  recognized.  Their  personality  is  lost,  their  power  of  self- 
direction.  Aliens  should  not  be  allowed  to  vote,  because 
voting  involves  allegiance  and  is  an  act  of  membership  in 
the  State.  All  the  other  classes  named,  together  with  those 
who  are  bribed  or  coerced  in  elections,  are  not  free;  their 
wills  are  subjected  to  the  wills  of  others.  Every  intelligent 
member  of  the  community  who  has  a  will  of  his  own  and  who  is 
free  to  vote  as  he  wishes  should  have  a  vote.  Ignorant  people 
may  be  easily  controlled  by  others,  and  therefore  it  is  not 
undemocratic  or  unreasonable  to  impose  an  educational  quali- 
fication for  the  suffrage. 

Within  a  hundred  years  the  suffrage  has  been  greatly 
extended  in  all  countries  where  there  is  any  semblance  of 
popular  rule.  In  England  a  small  property  quahfication  still 
holds,  but  millions  of  men  now  vote  in  that  country  whose  like 
would  not  have  been  allowed  to  vote  a  hundred  years  ago. 


The 

Democratic 
Basis  for  the 
Suffrage : 
Suffrage  goes 
with 
Personality 


Rule  for 
determining 
who  should 
vote 


Manhood 
Suffrage 


14 


THE  CITIZEN   AND  THE   REPUBLIC 


The    Argument 
for  a  Wide 
Suffrage 


A  century  ago  in  our  States  the  restrictions  on  the  suffrage 
were  much  more  numerous  than  they  are  now.  Some  States 
imposed  hard  property  qualifications,  others  reHgious  tests, 
so  that  perhaps  not  one  person  in  twenty  was  allowed  to  vote. 
Now  the  proportion  is  about  one  in  five,  and  in  the  "suffrage 
States"  (where  women  vote)  it  is  still  larger.  Under  the 
growth  of  the  democratic  spirit  of  equal  rights  for  all,  these 
early  restrictions  have  been  removed  and  manhood  suffrage 
has  come  to  prevail  in  nearly  all  the  States,  —  "one  man,  one 
vote." 

The  argument  for  a  wide  manhood  (or  womanhood)  suffrage 
is  that  voting  is  involved  in  the  right  of  self-government; 
that  it  promotes  patriotism  and  leads  to  an  interest  in  public 
affairs;  that  it  tends  to  remove  discontent  and  promote  a 
feeling  of  partnership  in  the  State;  that  since  civil  and  reli- 
gious liberty  depends  upon  power  men  have  no  security  for 
their  liberty  if  they  have  no  power;  that  the  suffrage  is  an 
enlightening  and  educational  agency  and  that  only  by  such 
active  citizenship  can  the  political  virtues  be  developed. 
"It  is  the  old  truth  that  one  learns  to  do  by  doing.  There 
is  no  other  way.  To  teach  men  to  do  their  duties  to  the 
State,  the  only  finally  effective  plan  is  to  give  them  duties 
to  the  State  to  do."  ^  Much  legislation  is  concerned  with  bad 
drains,  adulterated  food,  neglect  of  children,  ill-ventilated 
workshops,  dangerous  occupations,  drunkenness,  pauperism, 
ignorance,  and  other  social  evils.  Those  who  suffer  from 
these  evils  should  have  the  power  of  the  ballot  as  a  means 
of  remedy.  Justice  may  not  be  left  with  the  classes  that 
have  not  suffered  hardships  and  injustice.  The  State  needs 
the  judgment  of  all. 

On  these  democratic  principles  the  American  States  have 

liberally  admitted  to  the  suffrage  the  foreign-born,  the  negroes, 

the  rich  and  the  poor,  the  learned  and  the  ignorant,  and  all 

classes  of  men.     The  tendency  now  is  to  strike  down  another 

1  Maccunn,  Ethics  of  Citizenship,  pp.  8i,  103,  108. 


THE  AMERICAN  CITIZEN:  HIS  RIGHTS  AND  DUTIES  15 
barrier,  —  the    distinction   of   sex.     It   seems   arbitrary   and   Woman 

Suffrage 

artificial  to  keep  from  votmg,  merely  on  account  of  her  sex, 
an  intelligent  person  who  wishes  to  protect  her  property  in- 
terest or  to  have  a  voice  in  public  affairs.  The  movement  for 
woman  suffrage  has  made  marked  progress  in  recent  years. 
Thirteen  States  have  now  conferred  the  suffrage  upon  women, 
and  other  States  as  well  as  Congress  for  the  country  at  large, 
have  the  subject  under  consideration.^ 

The  Citizen  and  the  Ballot 

Election  bribery  has  been  one  of  the  greatest  evils  of  Ameri- 
can politics.  A  free  ballot  has  been  called  "the  right  pre- 
servative of  all  rights."  If  this  right  —  the  right  of  the 
people  to  honest  elections  —  cannot  be  preserved,  all  other   a  Free  and 

^      ^  \.    .       .  .  Honest  Ballot 

rights  may  be  lost.  To  deprive  the  voter  of  the  free  expression 
of  his  will  by  bribery  or  intimidation  is  to  rob  him  of  his 
manhood  and  self-respect.  It  takes  from  him  a  power  which 
has  been  given  to  him  to  defend  not  only  his  own  rights  of 
person  and  property  but  to  promote  the  welfare  of  the  State, 
It  demoralizes  and  debases  both  the  briber  and  the  bribed. 
To  prevent  the  freedom  of  elections  by  bribery  or  force  is 
to  strike  at  the  very  root  of  free  popular  government.  To 
carry  elections  by  bribery  and  the  use  of  money  is  one  of  the 

1  An  amendment  to  the  United  States  Constitution  giving  suffrage 
to  women  passed  the  lower  house  of  Congress  in  19 18. 

The  woman  suffrage  States,  with  the  date  of  their  granting  the  vote, 
are  as  follows:  Wyoming  (1869),  Colorado  (1893),  Utah  (1895),  Idaho 
(1896),  Washington  (1910),  California  (191 1),  Kansas,  Arizona,  and 
Oregon,  (1912),  Montana  and  Nevada  (1914),  New  York  (1917).  In 
1913,  Illinois  by  statute  conferred  national  suffrage  upon  women.  A 
State  constitutional  limitation  in  Illinois  bars  them  from  voting  for  State 
officers  but  they  may  vote  for  municipal  and  township  officers,  as  well 
as  for  president  and  members  of  Congress.  That  is,  they  may  vote  for 
candidates  for  offices  not  created  by  the  State  constitution.  In  191 7 
the  same  kind  of  suffrage  was  conferred  upon  women  in  Ohio,  and 
Michigan,  and  in  Arkansas  women  were  given  the  right  to  vote  in  party 
primaries.  Full  suffrage  for  women  throughout  the  country  seems  to  be 
a  question  of  only  a  short  time. 


i6 


THE   CITIZEN   AND  THE   REPUBLIC 


The 

Australian 
System  of 
Voting 


worst  forms  of  anarchy.  If  elections  and  law-makers  and 
judges  are  to  be  bought  the  laws  will  be  no  longer  binding  on 
the  people.  All  respect  for  law  and  authority  will  be  destroyed 
and  the  very  foundations  of  the  State  will  be  undermined. 
If  the  rich  may  buy  the  poor,  then  the  poor  (if  they  have  the 
power)  may  loot  the  rich,  and  this  is  anarchy. 

What  would  a  class  of  boys  think  of  a  game  of  baseball  if 
it  were  known  that  the  umpire  or  the  pitcher  of  one  of  the 
teams  were  bought  to  "give  the  game  away"?  What  would 
the  bleachers  do?  No  self-respecting  "fan"  would  watch 
such  a  game  through;  it  could  have  no  possible  interest  to 
anyone  save  the  guilty  traitors  who  had  sold  out  the  game. 
If  it  were  known  that  the  noble  game  of  baseball  had  ceased 
to  be  a  clean  game  and  that  umpires  and  pitchers  were  bribed 
to  sell  the  game  out,  how  long  would  the  American  public 
care  anything  about  their  national  sport?  The  game  would 
be  broken  up.  Is  not  an  election  of  more  serious  moment 
than  sport?  The  game  of  politics  is  more  vital  than  a  game 
of  ball.  In  elections  the  voters  are  like  umpires  and  certainly 
the  people  should  be  as  jealous  of  their  national  interests  as 
they  are  of  their  national  game,  and  just  as  quick  to  demand 
honest  voting  as  honest  playing.  It  seems  passing  strange 
that  there  are  people  yet  who  are  strict  and  upright  in 
private  business  or  in  sport,  who  are  loose  and  flabby  and 
immoral  when  it  comes  to  the  most  vital  interests  of  the 
State. 

To  prevent  bribery  and  secure  honest  elections  the  Aus- 
tralian system  of  voting  has  been  devised.  This  involves 
several  features: 

1.  All  ballots  are  printed  and  distributed  by  public  officials 
at  public  expense. 

2.  Each  ballot  contains  the  names  of  all  candidates  that 
have  been  nominated  by  any  party  or  by  petition  of  any 
group  of  citizens.  The  party  committeeman  must  certify 
to  the  proper  State  officers  the  names  on  each  party  ticket  a 


THE  AMERICAN  CITIZEN:   HIS  RIGHTS  AND  DUTIES     17 

certain  number  of  days  before  the  election,  and  the  election 
officers  must  certify  to  the  genuineness  of  the  ballot  when  it  is 
given  to  the  voter  on  election  day.  This  they  do  by  indors- 
ing, or  writing  their  names  on  the  back  of  the  ballot. 

3.  Ballots  may  be  obtained  on  election  day  only  within 
the  voting  places  and  from  the  election  olficers.  They  are  to 
be  marked  in  private  in  the  election  booth;  they  may  contain 
no  distinguishing  mark  that  might  enable  a  voter's  ballot  to 
be  identified  when  it  is  being  counted,  and  it  must  be  so  folded 
as  to  conceal  the  face  of  the  ballot  when  it  is  handed  to  the 
election  officer  to  be  put  into  the  box.  The  essential  point 
in  these  requirements  is  that  the  voter  shall  not  only  have  the 
privilege  of  voting  in  secret  but  shall  be  required  to  do  so. 

4.  Special  provision  is  made  to  prevent  ballots  being  lost 
or  stolen.  No  one  is  allowed  to  have  a  genuine  ballot  outside 
the  election  booth  and  all  electioneering  is  forbidden  within 
a  certain  distance  of  the  polling  place.  Sample  ballots,  of 
different  colors  from  the  genuine  ballots,  are  posted  on  the 
outside  for  the  instruction  of  the  voters. 

These  provisions  of  the  Australian  system,  usually  accom-   TheSUp 

^  ,..'.,.  Ticket  Method 

panied  by  registration  laws  and  provisions  for  punishing  of  Voting 
bribery  and  other  violations  of  the  election  laws,  came  into  use 
in  America  about  1888,  Massachusetts  leading  off  in  that  year 
and  Indiana  and  six  other  States  following  in  1889.  Now 
only  two  States,  South  Carolina  and  Georgia,  retain  the  old 
system  of  voting.  Prior  to  1888  slip  tickets  were  used.  The 
party  managers  furnished  their  own  ballots,  or  candidates 
could  print  and  distribute  ballots  to  suit  their  own  interests. 
Mixed  tickets  were  printed  under  headings  that  were  mis- 
leading, and  a  voter  could  hardly  be  sure  of  getting  a  "straight 
party  ticket"  when  he  wanted  one.  The  bribed  voter  was 
accompanied  to  the  voting  window  by  some  party  worker  or 
interested  candidate^  and  the  exposed  ballot  which  had  been 
prepared  for  him  was  handed  to  the  election  officer.  Flagrant 
bribery  was  common.     The  employers  of  large  numbers  of 


i8 


THE   CITIZEN  AND  THE   REPUBLIC 


Two    Kinds    of 
Ballots: 
"  Party 
Column  " 
and  "  Office 
Column" 


men  sought  to  control  their  voting.  Party  rivalry  was  strong, 
wealthy  men  had  some  special  interest  in  the  result  of  the 
election,  large  salaries  were  at  stake,  and  all  these  influences  led 
to  the  raising  of  large  campaign  funds  to  corrupt  the  ballot. 
So  the  State  in  self-defense  had  to  protect  the  voter  and  try 
to  get  fair  elections  by  some  form  of  the  secret  ballot.  The 
provisions  of  the  Austrahan  ballot  have  been  evaded  in  some 
ways  by  lawless  men  and  unscrupulous  political  tricksters,  but 
it  works  vastly  better  than  the  old  system.^ 

The  "Party  Column  Ballot"  arranges  the  candidates  in 
parallel  party  columns,  each  party  having  a  column.  At  the 
head  of  the  column  is  a  party  emblem.  In  some  states  the 
Democratic  emblem  is  the  Rooster,  the  RepubUcan  emblem, 
the  Eagle,  the  Prohibition  emblem  a  Rising  Sun,  the  Socialist 
emblem  a  Hammer  and  Anvil. 

The  "Office  Column  Ballot"  arranges  the  candidates  in 
groups  under  the  title  of  the  respective  offices,  all  candi- 
dates for  each  office  being  grouped  in  alphabetical  order  in  the 
same  column. 

The  party  column  ballot  is  favored  by  party  managers  to 
encourage  "straight"  voting.  If  a  voter,  using  this  ballot, 
wishes  to  vote  a  straight  party  ticket,  he  can  do  so  with  a 
minimum  of  effort  by  two  strokes,  merely  making  his  cross- 
mark  (x)  within  the  circle  containing  his  party  emblem.  He 
"votes  for  roosters  and  eagles."  But  if  he  wishes  to  vote  a 
"mixed"  or  "scratched"  ticket,  trying  to  pick  out  the  best 
men  by  choosing  some  candidates  of  one  party  and  some  of 
another,  he  must  then  not  put  his  cross-mark  (x)  within  the 
party  circle  containing  the  emblem,  but  he  must  make  his 
mark  in  each  of  the  little  squares  opposite  aU  of  the  candidates 
for  whom  he  wishes  to  vote.  If  he  blots  or  blurs  his  ballot 
or  gets  upon  it  in  any  way  any  sign  that  may  be  taken  for  a 
"distinguishing  mark,"  his  ballot  will  be  thrown  out.  So 
he   takes  the  easiest   and  safest  way,  refuses  to  take  the  risk 

1  See  Woodburn's  Political  Parlies,  and  Party  Problems,  pp.  349-5°- 


THE  AMERICAN  CITIZEN:   HIS  RIGHTS  AND  DUTIES     19 


of  trying  to  "scratch,"  and  "votes  the  ticket  straight."  This 
is  not  very  intelhgent  voting.  The  office  column  ballot,  on  the 
other  hand,  encourages  more  intelligent  and  independent  vot- 
ing by  making  it  just  as  difficult  to  vote  a  straight  ticket  as 
a  mixed  ticket,  since  the  voter  must  always  pick  out  for  each 
office  the  man  for  whom  he  wishes  to  vote.^ 

In  some  cities  voting  machines  are  used  to  facihtate  voting. 
With  these  the  voter,  instead  of  making  his  cross  marks  on  a 
"blanket  ballot"  in  the  booth,  pulls  the  levers  or  knobs  on 
a  machine  and  thus  registers  his  vote  quickly  for  the  candi- 
dates of  his  choice,  and  the  machine  at  the  same  time  registers 
the  total  vote  cast  at  any  hour  of  the  day  for  each  candidate, 
so  that  the  result  of  the  election  is  known  as  soon  as  the  polls 
are  closed.  The  machines  are  expensive  and  complicated,  and 
if  they  get  out  of  order  the  voting  may  be  seriously  blocked. 

When  a  voter  comes  to  his  polling  place  to  vote,  he  must 
pass  the  challengers  and  the  election  sheriffs.  The  challengers 
are  party  agents  who  stand  at  the  polhng  place  all  day  to  pre- 
vent fraudulent  or  illegal  voters  of  the  other  party  from  voting. 
They  are  paid  out  of  a  party  fund.  If  a  voter  is  challenged 
he  has  to  "swear  in"  his  ballot  or  make  affidavit  that  he  is 
a  legal  voter.  The  sheriffs  are  public  officers,  appointed  to 
preserve  order  at  the  polls  and  to  arrest  offenders.  They  are 
often  appointed  through  party  influence  and  are  under  the 
direction  of  the  Judge  of  the  Election  board,  who  is  usually  a 
partisan  official,  though  he  ought  not  to  be.  After  passing  the 
challengers  and  election  sheriffs  the  voter  comes  into  the  room 
of  the  election  board;  he  gives  his  name  and  address,  and  if 
they  are  found  in  the  registration  books  he  is  given  a  ballot. 
He  then  goes  into  a  booth  and  marks  his  ballot  for  the  party 
or  men  of  his  choice.  If  he  spoils  his  ballot  he  may  be  given 
another.  The  ballot  is  then  folded  and  handed  to  an  election 
official,  who  places  it  in  the  proper  "ballot  box."  The  polls 
are  closed  at  an  hour  fixed  by  law  and  the  votes  are  counted. 
1  For  the  reform  proposed  by  the  short  ballot,  see  pp.  45  and  46. 


Straigat 
Voting 


Voting 
Machines 


How  to  Vote 


20  THE   CITIZEN   AND  THE   REPUBLIC 

The  Citizen  and  the  Party 

What  should  be  the  attitude  of  a  citizen  towards  his  party? 
Should  he  give  his  party  unfaltering  allegiance?     Or  should 
he  recognize  no  party  relation  or  obligation  whatever,  merely 
Independence      voting  in  his  own  independent  way,  regardless  of  all  party 
2ie^"?ce  claims?     It  is  obvious  that  no  fixed  rule  can  be  laid  down 

for  citizens  to  act  by  in  this  matter.  A  citizen's  relation 
to  his  party  will  depend  much  upon  the  habit  and  character 
of  his  mind.  Some  men  are  naturally  more  partisan,  some 
naturally  more  independent  than  others.  Patriotism  and  good 
citizenship  may  be  consistent  with  both  attitudes,  with  that 
of  the  partisan  or  that  of  the  independent.  It  is  safest  to 
avoid  an  extreme  attitude  either  way;  the  better  citizen- 
ship may  be  found  in  the  golden  mean.  Since  parties  are  the 
agencies  by  which  we  are  governed  (see  pp.  218-233),  it  would 
seem  that  if  a  man  wishes  to  make  his  weight  tell  and  to 
count  for  much  in  poHtics  and  public  affairs  and  really  take 
part  in  his  own  government  he  should  belong  to  a  party  and 
use  all  his  influence  for  good  government  within  his  party. 
If  he  does  not  do  so  he  will  then  be  reduced  merely  to  a 
choice  between  what  other  men  arrange  for  him. 

On  the  other  hand,  some  men,  either  from  their  positions 
or  dispositions,  feel  that  they  cannot  cooperate  actively  with, 
or  pledge  their  fealty  to,  any  party.  They  wish  to  acknowl- 
edge no  party  ties,  but  to  act  as  judicial  umpires  between  par- 
.  ties,  voting  as  readily  with  one  party  as  with  another,  as  they 
think  the  interests  of  the  country  may  demand.  They  wish 
to  stand  in  the  middle  of  the  "see-saw,"  giving  the  tilt  first 
to  one  side,  then  to  the  other.  These  independent  voters  have 
been  called  "Mugwumps,"  a  nickname  that  was  applied  to 
them  in  1884. 

To  which  of  these  two  classes  a  citizen  should  belong,  every 
man  must  determine  for  himself.  He  must  define  for  himself 
the  Hmits  of  his  party  loyalty.     Some  men  act  independent 


THE  AMERICAN  CITIZEN:   HIS  RIGHTS  AND  DUTIES     21 


of  parties  from  good  motives,  some  from  bad  motives;  some 
from  public  interests,  some  from  selfish  and  personal  interests. 
If  we  recognize  the  party  as  a  beneficial  agency  in  popular 
government,  whether  "bolting"  and  opposing  the  party  is 
ever  justifiable  depends  altogether  upon  the  reasons  that  are 
offered.  It  is  obvious,  whatever  the  reasons,  that  some  men 
will  approve  the  bolting  and  some  will  condemn  it.  If  the 
reasons  for  bolting  one's  party  are  trivial,  petty,  selfish,  ignoble, 
the  bolter  will  be  condemned;  if  his  reasons  are  good  and 
sufficient  he  will  be  approved.  Who  is  to  judge  the  reasons 
that  are  given?  Manifestly,  every  citizen  must  answer  for 
himself  to  his  own  conscience  and  judgment.  According  to 
the  reasons  that  he  gives,  according  to  the  judgment  where- 
with he  judges,  shall  he  be  judged. 

It  is  evident  that  parties  are  becoming  more  amenable 
to  popular  control,  to  the  opinion  of  the  "rank  and  file." 
Large  and  growing  numbers  of  our  citizens  are  disposed  to 
assert  their  independence  of  party  control.  Party  managers 
and  hide-bound  partisans  are  disposed  to  look  upon  a  party 
as  a  disciplined  army,  whose  voters  are  expected  to  act  like 
machines  or  unthinking  soldiers  and  vote  at  the  word  of 
command.  Many  thousands  of  voters  are  no  longer  willing 
to  be  managed  or  "bossed"  on  this  principle.  It  should  be 
understood  that  a  party  exists  for  its  voters,  not  for  its  mana- 
gers. The  party  is  not  an  end  in  itself^  it  is  a  means  to 
secure  the  common  ends  that  its  voters  have  in  view.  It  is 
not  merely  an  organization  for  carrying  elections  and  getting 
offices  for  the  party  workers.  The  party  should  stand  for 
principles  .and  for  policies  in  harmony  with  these  principles. 
When  it  ceases  to  do  that  it  has  no  claim  on  any  citizen's 
support  or  allegiance.  It  cannot  exact  pledges  to  obey  some- 
one's orders  to  follow  an  unknown  course.  Party  men  may 
well  recognize  the  usefulness  of  parties  and,  believing  in  their 
own  principles,  they  may  wisely  adopt  the  party  means  of 
reducing  these  principles  into  practice;    but  with  the  spirit 


A  Growing 
Spirit  of 
Independence 


22  THE  CITIZEN  AND  THE   REPUBLIC 

of  true  independence  they  hold  their  political  independence 
above  party  success  or  party  interests,  and  they  will  follow 
their  convictions  and  their  sense  of  the  public  welfare  against 
the  crooked  work  or  the  temporary  decisions  of  the  party 
organization.  No  young  man  or  woman  should  allow  a 
party  to  commit  him  or  her  to  a  course  which  is  deemed  dan- 
gerous to  the  interests  of  his  city,  his  State,  or  his  country. 

"Let  it  be  known  that  you  are  interested  in  the  success  of 
the  party.  Asking  nothing  for  yourself,  take  a  hand  in  shaping 
the  party  policy  and  making  nominations,  being  guided  by 
public  interests  rather  than  personal  ones.  If,  against  your 
protests,  they  make  bad  nominations,  holt  them  and  return  to 
the  charge.  Keep  standing  up  for  men  and  things  that  are 
honest  and  of  good  report."  ^ 

"Party  is  always  to  be  subordinated  to  patriotism.  .  .  . 

When  you  are  angrily  told  that  if  you  erect  your  personal  whim 

against  the  regular  party  behest  you  make  representative  gov- 

/  ernment  impossible  by  refusing  to  accept  its  conditions,  hold 

fast  by  your  conscience  and  let  the  party  go."^ 

Some  Obligations   of   the  Citizen 

The  citizen's  duty  as  a  juryman,  while  not  so  frequent  or 
constant,  is  sometimes  more  important  than  his  duty  as  a 
voter.  The  Jury  in  the  court  are  the  twelve  men  selected 
Jury  Service  according  to  law  who  are  sworn  to  hear  the  evidence  in  a  case 
and  to  bring  in  a  true  verdict  according  to  the  evidence  laid 
before  them.  This  is  the  petit  jury  or  trial  jury.  The  grand 
jury,  consisting  of  other  men  appointed  by  the  Judge  or  Jury 
Commissioners,  investigates  wrong  doing  or  alleged  crime  and 
brings  into  court  an  indictment  against  the  accused  if  the 
evidence  is  thought  to  justify  an  arrest  and  trial. 

^  Washington  Gladden,  Century  Magazine,  vol.  vi. 
^  George  William  Curtis,  Orations. 

See  also  the  chapter  on  Civic  Publicity  and  the  Voter  in  A.  D.  Weeks's  The 
Psychology  of  Citizenship  in  the  National  Social  Science  Series  (191 7). 


THE  AMERICAN  CITIZEN:    HIS  RIGHTS  AND  DUTIES     23 

Jury  service  is  sometimes  a  hard  and  disagreeable  duty  and 
most  busy  men  shrink  from  it,  making  all  sorts  of  excuses  in 
order  to  get  off.  Inferior  men  who  are  willing  to  take  a  two- 
dollar-a-day  sitting  job,  are  about  the  court  houses  ready  to 
do  the  work  and  the  consequence  is  we  have  our  "professional 
jurymen,"  whose  verdicts  are  unsafe  and  unreliable  and 
who  are  sometimes  "tampered  with"  through  the  influence  or 
bribery  of  interested  parties. 

All  citizens  are  liable  to  be  summoned  for  jury  duty,  and  if 
the  most  competent  men  are  to  be  excused  the  juries  will  be 
made  up  in  large  part  of  those  less  fit  to  perform  intelligent 
and  honest  jury  service.  If  justice  is  not  done  in  court,  the 
law  is  a  failure  and  the  law-abiding  habit  is  undermined.  If 
honest  men  will  not  help  to  administer  justice  their  places  will 
be  taken  by  those  much  less  desirable.  A  civic  investigation 
committee  in  a  large  city  spoke  recently  as  follows:  "No  child 
should  be  permitted  to  leave  the  grammar  school  until  he  has 
had  thoroughly  instilled  into  him  the  strong  sense  of  his 
obligation  to  the  State  to  set  aside  all  prejudice  and  private 
interest  and  act  as  juryman  in  any  case  in  which  he  may  be 
summoned.  He  should  be  taught  that  this  obligation  is  sacred, 
and  that  its  performance  is  the  highest  kind  of  public  service." 

Universal  service  for  military  duty  may  also  be  an  ideal 
of  citizenship.  In  time  of  need  the  individual  citizen  is  to 
sacrifice  himself  for  the  good  of  the  whole  community.  To 
determine  when  the  need  exists  and  what  the  extent  of  the 
sacrifice  shall  be  lies  not  with  the  citizen  himself  but  with  the 
community  or  the  State  or  organized  society.  No  one  con- 
tends that  taxes  should  be  voluntary;  that  each  citizen  shall 
be  allowed  to  decide  for  himself  whether  he  shall  pay  or  when    '^^  f '*|.f 

^     -^  and  Military 

and  how  much.     Taxes  are  determined  for  him  by  the  law  of    service 
the  land.     They  are  to  be  imposed  on  all  alike,  according  to 
some  fair  rule.     If  paying  to  support  the  State  is  compulsory, 
so  should  service  be.     All  should  bear  the  burdens  and  meet  the 
needs  of  the  nation  alike,  the  willing  and  the  unwilling,  the 


24 


THE  CITIZEN   AND  THE   REPUBLIC 


patriotic,  and  the  unpatriotic.  In  time  of  national  need, 
of  emergency  and  war,  all  should  be  in  service  and  under 
direction,  some  doing  one  thing,  some  another;  some  in  com- 
mand, others  under  obedience.  This  is  in  harmony  with 
democratic  equality,  that  there  should  be  no  favors,  no 
exemptions,  no  excuses,  no  slacking  or  shirking;  but  that 
all  alike,  high  and  low,  "prince  and  peasant,  plutocrat  and 
pauper,  shall  serve  their  country  together  side  by  side,  wearing 
the  same  uniform,  submitting  to  the  same  discipline,  showing 
the  same  triumphs  or  dying  the  same  death." ^  It  is  this 
spirit  that  will  unify  us  and  make  us  a  nation. 


Law 

Enforcement 
and  Public 
Opinion 


The  Evils  of 
Mob  Law 


Cheapness  of 
Life  In 
America 


Power   of  Public  Opinion 

Public  opinion,  or  public  sentiment,  is  the  chief  factor  in 
the  enforcement,  or  non-enforcement,  of  law.  One  of  the 
greatest  evils  in  American  life  is  the  deplorable  lack  of  effi- 
cient, vigorous,  and  constant  law  enforcement.  America  holds 
rather  a  unique  position  among  nations  in  this  respect.  There 
were  ninety-six  lynchings  in  America  in  1014.  Ours  is  the 
only  civilized  country  on  the  globe  in  which  men  are  burnt 
alive  by  lawless  and  fiendish  lynchers.  Of  course,  to  the  ex- 
tent that  such  savage  and  horrible  practices  are  tolerated,  we 
are  not  civilized,  but  barbarous.  The  community  which 
practices  or  condones  such  lawless  and  public  murders  de- 
grades itself  and  brings  a  reproach  upon  the  State.  It  is 
difficult  in  America  to  execute  a  murderer  according  to  law, 
but  men  may  be  put  to  death  in  every  other  conceivable 
way,  by  all  kinds  of  homicides,  by  the  so-called  "unwritten 
law,"  by  criminal  negligence,  by  reckless  driving  on  the  streets, 
by  avoidable  fires  and  accidents,  by  awful  steamship  disas- 
ters, by  carrying  deadly  weapons,  by  saloon  brawls  and  drunk- 
enness, and  in  other  ways.  Most  of  these  things  come  from 
lack  of  law  enforcement.     It  frequently  happens  that  when  a 

'  The  American  Democratic  Ideal,  by  Brooks  Adams  in  the  Yale 
Review  for  January,  19 16. 


THE  AMERICAN  CITIZEN:   HIS  RIGHTS  AND  DUTIES     2^ 


guilty  murderer  has-  been  convicted  and  executed  a  sickly 
and  maudlin  sentiment  in  the  community  seeks  to  make 
a  "iiero"  out  of  him  and  thousands  of  people  begin  to  con- 
demn the  officers  of  the  law  for  his  execution.  This  leads  to 
a  loss  of  respect  for  all  law.  Whether  capital  punishment 
should  be  inflicted  by  the  State  is  a  debatable  question.  A 
growing  public  sentiment  is  coming  to  oppose  it.  But  this 
has  no  bearing  on  the  matter  of  our  respect  for  the  law  and 
its  enforcement. 

There  are  easy  habits  of  mind  among  Americans  toward  the 
crimes  of  bribery  and  political  corruption.  One  of  the  saddest 
things  in  our  civic  life  is  to  find  men  who  are  looked  upon  as 
decent,  law-abiding,  intelligent  citizens,  condoning  vote-buying 
or  bribe-giving  to  legislators  or  city  councilmen  and  deplor- 
ing and  opposing  the  indictment  and  prosecution  of  the  wrong- 
doers. Commercial  and  political  bribe-givers  commit  the 
most  serious  of  crimes.  They  corrupt  public  officials,  a  crime 
which  tends  to  undermine  the  very  foundations  of  the  State, 
leading  to  the  ultimate  destruction  of  democracy.  These  "re- 
spectables" in  the  community,  instead  of  rising  in  righteous 
wrath  against  graft,  bribery,  and  political  rottenness,  begin 
to  criticise  and  condemn  the  prosecution  of  the  wrong.  So 
the  criminal  is  made  to  feel  that  public  sentiment  does  not 
condemn  him,  that  a  jury  will  acquit  him,  and  that  he  can 
commit  such  crimes  with  impunity.  If  that  is  to  become  our 
common  civic  spirit  then  "we  must  bid  farewell  to  civic 
virtue  and  in  time  bid  farewell  to  republican  institutions 
and   civic   liberty."  '^ 

One  of  the  prime  causes  of  this  lack  of  respect  for  law  comes 
from  the  law's  delay.  The  procedure  of  our  courts  is  clumsy, 
technical,  and  slow.  Cases  are  dragged  out  to  an  intolerable 
length,  —  especially  if  one  side  has  money  by  which  it  can 
"stave  off  "  a  decision  until  pubUc  sentiment  cools  oflf.  Shrewd 
lawyers   are   able,   by   means   of   postponements,   new  trials, 

^  See  Civic  Progress  and  Reaction  in  the  West,  Outlook,  August  4,  1915. 


Lack  of 
Respect 
for  Law 


The  Delay  In 
the  Courts 


26  THE   CITIZEN   AND  THE   REPUBLIC 

appeals  to  a  higher  court,  and  other  delays,  to  prevent  a  final 
decision  almost  indefinitely.  A  murderer  or  briber  may 
be  under  trial  years  after  his  deed  was  committed  and  has 
almost  been  forgotten,  and  when  pubhc  attention  is  attracted 
by  other  murders  and  other  crimes.  Court  procedure  is  compli- 
cated and  technical.  Technicalities  are  constantly  made  use 
of  to  avoid  conviction.  A  short  time  ago  in  Missouri  a  case 
was  thrown  out  of  court  because  a  copyist  had  accidentally 
omitted  the  word  "the"  from  a  document.  The  meaning 
of  the  document  was  perfectly  plain,  but  it  was  technically 
incomplete.  Such  legal  decisions  do  not  appeal  to  the  common 
sense  of  the  average  man.  We  are  far  behind  Great  Britain 
in  the  matter  of  legal  procedure,  and  leaders  of  the  bar  are 
urging  reform,  which  may  be  brought  about  before  the  lapse 
of  many  years,  —  that  "justice  be  done  speedily  and  without 
delay,"  as  was  promised  in  the  Magna  Charta  several  hundred 
years  ago.  Above  all,  the  length  of  the  case  should  not  be  in 
proportion  to  the  length  of  the  purse  of  one  of  the  litigants. 
A  poor  man  cannot  stand  the  law's  delays;  a  rich  man  may 
be  better  able  to  do  so. 

The  Citizen  and  the  Community 

It  was  Patrick  Henry  who  said, "  Eternal  vigilance  is  the 
price  of  liberty."  It  is,  also,  the  price  of  good  government.  The 
government  of  any  community  always  depends  upon  the  moral 
quaUty  of  its  citizens.  Mr.  Bryce  has  named  three  obstacles 
The  ciHzen  ^q  ^qq^^  citizenship:  (i)  Indolence  or  apathy  on  the  part 
Community  of  the  votcr;  (2)  excess  of  party  spirit;  (3)  the  tendency  of 
the  average  citizen  to  place  self-interest  before  the  public 
interest.  A  community  which  elects  incompetent  and  un- 
trustworthy officials  and  is  indifferent  to  the  kind  of  govern- 
ment it  gets,  is  very  certain  to  get  bad  government.  "If  you 
elect  a  rogue  to  represent  you  he  will  represent  you."  The 
machinery  of  government  will  not  count  for  much;  it  all 
depends  upon  the  men  in  charge.     Capable  and  upright  men 


THE  AMERICAN  CITIZEN:   HIS  RIGHTS  AND  DUTIES     27 

with  bad  machinery  may  get  good  results,  while  bad  men  with 
good  machinery  will  always  produce  bad  results.  An  intel- 
ligent and  alert  public  opinion  is  the  chief  reliance.  Our 
government  is  what  its  citizens  make  it.  Bad  laws  or  the 
failures  of  good  laws  are  but  the  work  of  bad  men,  or  their 
triumph  over  the  good.  So  the  moral  sense  of  the  citizen 
and  the  moral  hfe  of  the  community  needs  constant  cultivation 
and  activity.  Officers,  prosecutors,  judges,  and  juries  will  not 
convict  people  of  crime  for  doing  the  things  that  are  the 
community  habit  and  practice. 

To  develop  this  community  life,  to  make  it  worthy  and 
progressive,  the  citizen  needs  public  spirit.  This  pubHc 
spirit  will  help  him  to  overcome  indolence  and  lift  him  above 
party  and  above  himself  and  above  his  own  private  affairs.  ^^"'^  ^p^* 
We  hear  much  of  patriotism,  and  we  are  led  to  think  of  the  Patriotism 
patriot  only  as  a  brave  soldier  who  is  lighting  or  dying  on  the 
battle  field.  But  patriotism  is  only  another  name  for  public 
spirit.  The  patriot  may  be  ready  to  go  to  war,  and  on  the 
field  of  battle  he  may  pay  the  "last  full  measure  of  the 
patriot's  devotion."  The  true  patriot  will  not  only  defend  his 
rights  but  he  will  fulfil  his  duties.  His  patriotism  will  assert 
itself  not  only  in  times  of  excitement,  in  a  crisis  or  in  an 
emergency,  but  in  the  everyday  duties  of  civic  hfe.  To 
obey  the  laws  and  keep  out  of  jail  and  out  of  the  hands  of  the 
law  officers,  to  pay  one's  taxes  because  he  is  compelled  to, 
this  is  a  low  measure  of  patriotism.  The  true  patriot  in  the 
community  will  stand  ready  to  contribute  time  and  money  to 
the  public  good.  He  will  strive  to  have  the  taxes  justly  levied 
and  honestly  expended;  he  will  strive  for  better  roads,  cleaner 
streets,  better  sanitary  regulations,  better  schools,  a  better 
enforcement  of  the  law.  He  will  look  upon  pubHc  office  as  a 
public  trust,  to  be  sought  not  for  its  pay  but  as  an  opportunity 
for  public  service.  He  will  seek  to  know  something  of  the 
institutions  of  his  country  and  their  workings,  of  the  needs  of 
his  community  and  their  management,  of  the  laws  and  their 


28 


THE   CITIZEN   AND  THE   REPUBLIC 


Civic 

Activities  and 
a  Community 
Sense 


Civic  Spirit 
in  the  Young 


requirement,  of  public  officers  and  their  duties.  The  good 
citizen  will  seek  to  place  his  country's  interest  and  his  com- 
munity's interest  above  party  or  class  or  sectional  or  selfish 
interest,  and  he  will  be  willing  to  take  trouble  or  even  tedious 
pains  for  the  well  governing  of  the  country  and  the  community 
in  which  he  lives. 

With  this  civic  spirit  the  citizen  will  seek  to  promote  the 
progress  and  improvement  of  his  community  in  all  its  varied 
activities.  A  good  social  spirit  will  be  cultivated,  and  all 
social  forces  will  be  strengthened  which  make  for  the  better 
life  of  the  community.  All  the  agencies  for  public  education 
in  health,  morals,  recreations,  and  vocations  will  be  encouraged. 
Parents,  homes,  churches,  clubs,  commercial  bodies,  the  school 
children,  will  all  cooperate  to  help  develop  a  community 
sense,  a  community  understanding,  and  a  community  will. 
The  policeman  will  come  to  be  looked  upon  as  our  represen- 
tative not  merely  to  keep  order  by  arresting  offenders  and 
to  keep  the  small  boys  in  the  neighborhood  under  restraint; 
but  he  will  catch  the  spirit  of  social  advance  and  be  our  leader 
in  social  self-control  and  community  self-respect. 

As  an  illustration  of  the  new  civic  spirit,  attention  may  be 
called  to  the  organizations  of  the  Boy  Scouts,  the  Boy  Citizens, 
the  Boy  Police,  by  which  young  boys  are  coming  to  learn 
good  citizenship  by  actual  practice  of  it  and  by  seeing  the  need 
of  public  spirit  in  the  actual  life  of  the  city.  Boy  Citizens 
and  Boy  Police  have  been  organized  and  have  loyally  given 
this  worthy  pledge: 

"I  promise  on  my  honor, 

"i.  To  do  my  duty  to  God  and  my  country  and  to  obey 
the  law. 

"  2.  To  be  honest,  to  be  trustworthy,  to  be  loyal,  to  be  help- 
ful, to  be  polite,  to  be  obedient,  to  be  brave. 

"3.  To  do  what  I  can  to  prevent  swearing  and  vulgar  lan- 
guage in  public  streets  and  public  places. 


THE  AMERICAN  CITIZEN:    HIS  RIGHTS  AND  DUTIES     29 

"4.  To  prevent  boys  from  breaking  windows  and  street 
lamps  and  from  defacing  buildings  and  sidewalks  with  chalk. 

"  5.  To  prevent  boys  from  smoking  cigarettes  and  playing 
crap. 

"6.  To  prevent  boys  from  engaging  in  dangerous  or  un- 
lawful playing. 

"  7.  To  prevent  persons  from  placing  encumbrances  or  ob- 
structions on  fire  escapes. 

"  8.  To  prevent  the  mixing  of  ashes,  garbage,  and  paper. 
To  see  that  garbage  cans  are  kept  covered,  that  ash  and 
garbage  cans  are  promptly  removed  from  the  streets  when  they 
have  been  emptied,  and  especially  to  do  this  at  our  own  homes. 

"  g.  To  request  persons  to  keep  the  sidewalk  and  area  way 
in  front  of  their  buildings  clean  and  not  to  throw  refuse  into 
the  street." 

This  is  the  finest  training  of  young  boys  for  citizenship. 
All  the  children  in  our  public  schools  are  citizens.  They  are 
"not  merely  going  to  be  citizens,  they  are  citizens  now," 
with  rights,  privileges  and  duties  of  citizens.  It  is  their 
duty  to  show  their  sense  of  citizenship  and  to  manifest  their 
interest  in  and  contribute  their  part  toward  good  government, 
good  laws,  and  good  order.  They  are  under  obligations  to 
keep  secure  these  blessings  in  the  home,  in  the  school,  in  the 
community. 

There  is  no  better  place  to  teach  a  boy  to  be  straight  and 
honorable  than  on  the  playground  with  his  comrades.  There 
he  may  learn  the  true  spirit  of  the  game  which  he  will  need 
for  good  citizenship  in  after  years,  —  not  by  instruction  and 
precept  and  preaching  but  by  the  community  spirit  and  the 
life  of  the  game.  He  expects  no  one  to  cheat  him,  and  the 
"whole  bunch"  will  be  down  on  the  boy  who  does  not  play 
fair.  So  "he  will  establish  standards  of  conduct  which  we 
must  maintain  in  the  community  and  particularly  in  our  great 
cities.     If  there  is  one  thing  that  we  need  more  than  another 


30  THE  CITIZEN   AND  THE   REPUBLIC 

it  is  the  constant  emphasis  among  our  citizens  of  that  spirit 
of  fair  play,  that  wilhngness  to  give  and  take,  that  generosity 
in  defeat  and  that  lack  of  assertiveness  in  victory  which  we 
identify  with  true  sport,  and  which  is  learned  best  of  all  in 
childhood  upon  the  playground."  ^ 

TOPICS  AND    QUERIES 

1.  Why  should  America  not  tolerate  "hyphenated  citizens"  and  "double 

allegiance"? 

2.  Debate:    "Resolved    that    no    State    should    be    allowed    to    admit 

aliens  to  the  suffrage  before  their  naturalization  is  completed." 
What  States  do  so? 

3.  Do  not  the  citizens  of    the  United  States  owe  a  double  allegiance 

to  the  State  and  to  the  United  States?  Have  these  allegiances 
ever  come  into  conflict?  Which  is  paramount?  Why?  Which 
came  first  historically? 

4.  Debate:    "Resolved  that  the  Nation  rather  than  the  States  should 

determine  who  should  be  voters."  How  did  the  States  get  this 
power? 

5.  Debates:    (i)  "Resolved   that  the  suffrage  should   be  extended   to 

women  throughout  the  United  States."  (2)  "Resolved  that  the 
suffrage  should  be  restricted  rather  than  extended."  (3)  "Resolved 
that  voting  should  be  compulsory." 

6.  Which  is  the  more  important,  the  citizen's  duty  to  obey  the  State 

or  the  State's  duty  to  protect  the  citizen? 

7.  Show   that   the   "office  column"   ballot  is  better   than   the   "party 

column"  ballot. 

8.  How  may  a  good  civic  spirit  be  cultivated  on  the  playground? 

9.  What  agencies  and  influences  can   you  name  for  promoting  better 

citizenship? 

REFERENCES 

Addams,  Jane.    Democracy  and  Social  Ethics. 

Beard,  C.  A.  American  Government  and  Politics,  pp.  160-163,  "Citizen- 
ship and  Suffrage,"  pp.  458-487,  "  Popular  Control  in  State  Govern- 
ment." 

Beard,  C.  A.  Readings,  Chap.  XXIII,  Arguments  for  and  against  the 
Initiative  and  Referendum,  "Educating  Voters  in  Oregon." 

Bryce,  James.  American  Commonwealth,  Vol.  II,  pp.  111-175,  "Rings 
and  Bosses,"  "Spoils,"  "Elections,"  "Corruption." 

Fuller,  Robert  H.  Government  by  the  People,  Chaps.  II,  III,  VI,  VIII, 
"  Voters   and    Bribery." 

^  E.x-Justice  Hughes  of  the  United  States  Supreme  Court. 


THE  AMERICAN  CITIZEN:    HIS  RIGHTS  AND  DUTIES     31 

Jenks,  J.  W.    Principles  of  Politics,  Chaps.  II,  III,  "Political  Motives," 

"The    Suffrage";     Chap.    IV,    "Political    Parties,     Civic    Life    in 

Relation  to." 
Jones,  Chester  L.    Readings    on    Parlies    and    Elections,    pp.    212-250, 

"On  the  Ballot";   pp.  251-354,  "Problems  and  Remedies." 
Maccunn,  John.    Ethics  of  Citizenship,   Chap.    Ill,   "Rights  of  Man"; 

Chap.  IV,  "Citizenship";  Chap.  VIII,  "Democracy  and  Character." 
Morgan,  Thomas  J.    Patriotic     Citizenship,      273-300,      "Citizenship: 

Its  Duties  and  Privileges." 
Ray,  P.  O.    Introduction    to    Political    Parties    and    Practical    Politics, 

pp.  231-272,  "Suffrage  and  Election  Laws."     See  ample  references 

to  periodical  literature  in  this  volume. 
Roosevelt,  Theodore.    Essays  on  Practical  Politics. 
Thompson,  Daniel  G.    Politics  in  a  Democracy. 
Woodburn,  James   A.     Political    Parties    and    Parly   Problems    in    the 

United  States,  pp.  321-378,  "Political  Morality,"  "Honest  Ballot," 

"Rings  and  Bosses." 


CHAPTER   II 

PRESENT  DAY  PROBLEMS   IN  A  DEMOCRACY 

New  Conditions  Bring  New  Problems  in 
Government 

Government  is  a  changing  thing.  Its  principles  of  justice, 
equity,  order,  fair  play,  and  equal  rights  for  all  do  not  change. 
Truth  and  righteousness  abide,  but  the  methods  and  means, 
the  instruments  and  institutions  and  policies  of  government 
by  which  truth  and  justice  and  righteousness  are  obtained, 
must  change  from  age  to  age.  Men  must  adapt  themselves 
to  the  changed  and  changing  circumstances  of  their  lives 
not  only  in  material  things  but  in  government. 

The  changes  in  the  life  of  mankind  and  among  the  American 
people  since  1787  have  been  so  many  and  so  marvelous  that  it 
may  be  almost  said  that  we  are  living  in  a  different  world. 
Judged  by  the  circumstances  of  his  life  and  the  progress 
of  the  world,  George  Washington  lived  more  nearly  in  the 
times  of  Abraham  than  in  those  of  today.  Washington  never 
saw  an  automobile,  or  a  trolley  car,  or  a  railroad,  or  a  tele- 
phone, or  a  telegraph,  or  a  steamship,  or  a  writing  machine, 
or  a  mowing  machine,  or  a  voting  machine,  or  a  threshing 
machine,  or  a  sewing  machine,  or  a  great  city,  or  a  great 
factory,  or  a  great  printing  press,  or  an  elevator,  an  asphalt 
street  or  a  macadamized  road,  or  a  public  school,  or  an 
electric  Hght,  or  a  lucifer  match,  or  a  gas  jet,  or  a  gas 
range,  or  a  two-cent  stamp.  All  these  things  have  changed 
the  face  of  the  world  and  the  way  men  live.  Is  it  not  to  be 
expected  that  they  should  change  also  the  ways  and  means 
by  which  men  are  governed? 

32 


PRESENT  DAY   PROBLEMS   IN  A  DEMOCRACY        33 

In  1787  the  thirteen  httle  commonwealths  that  fringed  the 
Atlantic,  east  of  the  Alleghanies,  had  about  four  miUion  people, 


A  diagram  showing  the  increase  of  population  in  the  United  States  since 
1790.  Since  the  1910  census  the  population  has  now  reached  over  no 
millions. 

and  most  men  seriously  doubted  whether  a  single  republic 
could  endure  for  any  length  of  time  over  so  vast  a  stretch  of  ter- 
ritory as  from  Massachusetts  to  Georgia.      In  1918  a  united 


34 


THE  CITIZEN   AND  THE   REPUBLIC 


Primitive 
Social 
Conditioas 
compared  witli 
Modern 
Complex  Life 


republic  of  forty-eighl  states  from  the  Atlantic  to  the  Pacific 
governs  more  than  one  hundred  millions  of  people.  The  rail- 
road, the  telegraph,  the  telephone,  the  post  office,  unite  them 
in  business  interests,  and  enable  one  government  to  bind  them 
together  as  a  nation.  While  Washington  hoped  and  worked  for 
a  firm  and  lasting  union,  he  looked  forward  to  nothing  like  this. 
Then  nearly  all  the  people  lived  in  the  country,  without  good 
roads  or  good  schools  or  adequate  means  of  travel  and  com- 
munication. Now  nearly  half  the  people  live  in  cities,  with 
quick  communication  and  highly  organized  trade  and  indus- 
try, under  "sky  scrapers"  and  amid  great  mills  and  factories 
and  stores. 

The  country  is  big,  business  is  big,  our  enterprises  are  big, 
our  problems  are  big,  and  the  government  must  be  ready  for 
big  things  such  as  the  men  of  1787  could  not  have  dreamed 
of.  With  our  land  reaching  at  that  time  only  to  the  Missis- 
sippi, Jefferson  thought  there  would  be  enough  for  the  people 
for  a  thousand  years  to  come,  and  Fisher  Ames  said  that  it 
would  take  ages  to  settle  it  and  only  the  Lord  knew  how 
it  could  ever  be  governed!  Could  anything  be  more  absurd 
than  to  think  that  even  the  wisest  men  in  the  world  in 
those  simple  and  primitive  times  could  lay  down  a  fixed  and 
rigid  constitution  to  govern  a  growing  nation  for  even  a 
century  to  come?  The  constitution  had  to  be  changed  and 
enlarged  by  liberal  construction  and  by  new  standards  and 
understandings,  to  enable  the  nation  to  meet  new  conditions 
and  unforeseen  problems.  Otherwise  it  would  have  broken 
down  as  the  Old  Confederation  did.  As  new  needs  arise  or 
new  evils  appear  our  minds  cast  about  for  new  plans  or  devices 
to  meet  the  call  of  the  times.  It  is  common  sense  to  do  things 
in  the  best  way  and  the  Constitution  was  designed  to  promote 
and  not  to  prevent  the  best  methods  in  government. 

As  we  see  one  of  our  great  and  efficient  threshing  machines 
we  smile  when  we  hear  that  somewhere  in  Asia  men  are 
still  threshing  wheat  in  the  same  old  way  of  two  thousand 


PRESENT   DAY   PROBLEMS   IN  A  DEMOCRACY      35 

years  ago,  beating  out  the  grain  with  the  flail  and  throwing  it    New 
into  the  air  that  the  wind  may  separate  the  chaff  from  the    ^^  Me^s  of 
wheat.     We  think  how  unprogressive  men  are  who  consent    Government 
to  hve  in  that  way.     We  should  be  just  as  ready  to  adopt   ^^  ^^J^ 
(and  adapt  ourselves  to)   new  methods  and  forms  and  in-    Machinery 
venlions  in  government,  if  they  can  be  proved  to  be  better 
than  the  old.     This  would  be  quite  in  harmony  and  not  at  all 
contrary  to  the  conduct  and  principles  of  the  fathers.     They 
overthrew  the  government  of  the  King  when  they  found  that 
government  was   against   their  best  interests.     For  a  while 
they  tried  the  experiment  of  the  Confederation,  but  when  it 
proved  a  failure  they  overthrew  it  and  set  up  a  new  Consti- 
tution although  they  encountered  such  opposition  that  they 
were  almost  unable  to  bring  about  the  change. 

Men  do  not  invest  much  in  machines  until  they  have  been 
tested  and  tried  out.  They  experiment  with  a  new  machine 
to  find  out  whether  it  will  work,  or  whether  it  is  really 
useful.  If  the  machine  "makes  good,"  sensible  men  will 
buy  it  and  use  it.  They  will  not  hold  on  to  old  ways  merely 
because  they  are  old  nor  reject  new  things  merely  because 
they  are  new.  Wise  men  are  open  minded  and  seek  to 
learn  about  new  things.  It  is  just  so  in  government.  Men 
experiment  in  government  just  as  they  do  in  mechanics.  It 
may  cost  something,  but  there  is  no  other  way  of  making 
any  progress.  If  a  law  or  an  institution  or  a  constitution 
works  badly  it  must  be  abandoned;  if  a  new  proposal  in 
government  works  well  it  should  be  adopted.  This  is  the 
old  American  Anglo-Saxon  historical  method  of  making 
progress  in  government  which  the  world  has  witnessed 
for  two  thousand  years.  A  self-governing  people  are  not 
to  be  bound  down  by  fixed  rules  of  action  for  all  time,  but  they 
must  be  free  to  apply  at  will  this  particular  remedy  for  this 
particular  evil. 

Our  Federal  system  of  government  in  America  is  especially 
well  adapted  to  experiments.     Our  States  have  been  called 


36 


THE  CITIZEN   AND  THE   REPUBLIC 


The  States  as 

Experiment 

Stations 


The  Oregon 

System 


"political  experiment  stations,"  because  a  political  proposal 
may  be  tried  out  in  a  State  while  other  States  look  on,  and  if  it 
works  well  they  may  adopt  it,  while  if  it  works  badly  no  great 
harm  is  done  except  to  the  one  small  community  and  that  not 
for  long.  Maine  and  Kansas  try  prohibition  of  the  liquor 
traffic;  Oklahoma  the  guarantee  of  bank  deposits  by  the  State; 
and  the  other  States  watch  the  result  and  reject  or  adopt  the 
experiment  accordingly.  Oregon  has  taken  the  lead  in  recent 
years  as  a  "poUtical  experiment  station"  in  America.  What  is 
known  as  the  "Oregon  system"  includes  direct  legislation  by 
the  Initiative  and  Referendum,  the  Recall,  the  direct  primary 
for  nominating  officers  under  the  Australian  ballot,  a  corrupt 
practices  act,  home  rule  for  cities  and  a  scheme  for  the  popular 
election  of  United  States  Senators  used  before,  the  adoption 
of  the  Seventeenth  Amendment  (see  Appendix).  These  are 
experiments  in  radical  democracy  and  the  feature  of  direct 
legislation  is  to  a  large  extent  the  substitution  of  direct  demo- 
cratic government  for  republican  representative  government. 

The    Initiative  and  the  Referendum 

The  Oregon  experiment  that  attracted  the  most  attention 
and  which  has  been  adopted  by  several  other  States  is  the 
Initiative  and  Referendum.  The  Initiative  and  Referendum 
go  together  in  one  system.  The  system  is  not  new  in  Oregon. 
In  Switzerland,  the  land  of  its  origin  and  the  most  democratic 
country  in  Europe,  it  is  an  old  and  well-estabUshed  institution. 
It  provides  a  method  or  process  by  which  laws  may  be  made, 
or  prevented,  directly  by  the  people  themselves,  —  that  is, 
direct  legislation  by  a  vote  of  the  people  instead  of  indirect 
legislation  by  the  representatives  of  the  people  in  the  legis- 
lature. For  this  reason  the  system  is  denounced  as  over- 
throwing "representative  government."  It  is  an  approach 
toward  pure  democracy  by  which  the  people  govern  themselves. 

The  Initiative  and  Referendum  are  designed  as  a  check  or 
remedy  for  the  evils  and  shortcomings  of  legislatures,  —  to 


PRESENT   DAY   PROBLEMS   IN  A    DEMOCRACY       37 

push  forward  reforms  which  the  people  want  and  to  prevent  the 
enactment  of  laws  which  they  do  not  want.  In  early  days  Causes  for  the 
the  people  reposed  nearly  all  power  and  responsibility  in  initiative  and 
representative  legislatures.  The  governors  were  given  very  Referendum 
little  power.  The  people  trusted  to  responsible,  well-trained, 
and  able  leaders,  —  Washington,  Hamilton,  Jefferson,  Madison, 
and  others,  in  State  and  national  councils.  As  legislative 
abuses  arose  and  representative  assemblies  made  or  prevented 
laws  really  contrary  to  the  will  of  the  people,  the  people  lost 
confidence  in  their  legislative  bodies.  They  gave  the  governors 
the  veto  power  to  check  the  legislature,  and  Jackson,  as  a 
"tribune  of  the  people,"  enlarged  the  presidential  veto  to 
prevent  Congress  from  doing  what  he  was  convinced  the  people 
did  not  want  done.  As  the  people  have  become  more  capable 
of  making  decisions  they  have  sought  to  take  it  upon  them- 
selves to  say  what  their  legislatures  shall  or  shall  not  do. 
It  has  been  this  spirit  and  growth  in  democracy  that  have 
given  rise  to  the  Initiative  and  Referendum.  It  comes  from 
a  trust  in  the  instinct  and  common  sense  and  conscience  of 
the  whole  people. 

By  the  Initiative  the  people  may  propose,  or  initiate  laws 
and  have  them  submitted  to  the  voters  for  acceptance  or 
rejection.  If  a  sufficient  number  of  the  voters  petition  the 
legislature  to  submit  to  the  people  a  law,  or  policy,  that  body 
has  no  option  in  the  matter.^  This  petition  becomes  a  lawful 
demand,  an  "imperative  mandate,"  a  term  used  to  express  the 
compulsion  by  which  the  legislature  acts,  by  which  the  legis- 
lature is  bound  to  let  the  people  decide  whether  they  will 
have  such  a  law.  Thus  the  legislature  is  prevented  from  post- 
poning or  defeating  a  measure  which  the  people  may  want. 

By  the  Referendum  (meaning  it  must  be  referred)  before  a  bill 
may  become  a  law  the  legislature  is  bound,  if  a  sufficient  num- 


How  the 
System   works 


1  In  Oregon  only  eight  per  cent  of  the  legal  voters  are  required  for 
an  Initiative  petition  and  on\y  five  per  cent  are  required  for  a  Referen- 
dum petition. 


S2633 


38  THE  CITIZEN   AND  THE   REPUBLIC 

ber  of  the  voters  petition  for  it,  to  submit  the  measure  to  the 
voters  to  see  whether  or  not  they  approve.  If  they  approve, 
the  measure  becomes  a  law;  if  not,  it  is  defeated.  Thus 
the  legislature  is  prevented  from  enacting  laws  which  the 
people  do  not  want. 

The  advocates  of  these  reforms  say  that  it  is  not  "rep- 
resentative government"  which  they  oppose,  but  "mis-repre- 
sentative government";  that  legislatures  often  abuse  their 
trust;  that  they  represent  powerful  moneyed  interests  in- 
stead of  the  people;  that  bribery  operates  and  the  "lobby" 
controls.  So  they  advocate  the  Initiative  and  Referendum 
in  order  that  the  people  may  control  their  legislatures,  and 
(by  the  Initiative)  compel  them  to  do  what  the  people  want 
and  (by  the  Referendum)  to  prevent  their  doing  what  the 
people  do  not  want. 

Under  the  Initiative  and  Referendum  the  drafting  of  bills 
is  attended  to  by  expert  legal  officers.  The  people  merely 
vote  upon  the  broad  policy,  as  for  instance,  "Will  you 
have  woman  suffrage?"  "Will  you  estabHsh  more  normal 
schools?"  "Will  you  prohibit  the  Hquor  traffic?"  "Will 
you  have  local  option?"  "Will  you  try  the  single  tax?"  etc. 
In  Oregon  as  many  as  thirty  proposed  laws  have  been 
accepted  by  the  people  at  general  elections  within  the  last 
few  years  and  many  more  have  been  rejected. 

The  Referendum  may  be  optional  or  compulsory,  State- 
wide or  local.  The  constitution  of  a  State  may  leave  its  use 
to  the  option  of  the  legislature  or  it  may  make  it  compulsory 
in  all  legislation  of  general  public  interest  and  on  certain 
Referendum  local  matters.  Certain  forms  of  the  Referendum  have  existed 
for  a  long  time  in  many  of  the  States.  Constitutions  and 
constitutional  amendments  have  usually  been  adopted  by  the 
Referendum.  Local  option  elections,  —  voting  a  county  or 
city  "wet"  or  "dry,"  — locating  county  seats,  and  deciding 
whether  a  town  shall  become  an  incorporated  city,  are  other 
old  forms  of  the  Referendum.     Subsidies  for  new  railroads 


Old  Forms 
of  the 


PRESENT  DAY   PROBLEMS   IN  A  DEMOCRACY       39 

and  taxes  for  bridges,  school  houses  and  other  pubHc  improve- 
ments may  also  be  decided  in  this  way  in  some  of  the  States. 

Advantages  Claimed  for  the  Initiative  and  Referendum 

The  advantages  urged  by  the  advocates  of  this  method  of 
direct  legislation  may  be  briefly  mentioned: 

1.  It  brings  power  directly  to  the  people  who  may  be  more 
safely  trusted  than  the  legislatures. 

2.  It  is  a  good  means  of  political  education.  The  people 
are  aroused  to  take  an  interest  in  politics  and  government. 
Public  arguments  and  appeals  are  made  for  and  against  a 
measure;  school  house  meetings  and  debates  are  held,  with 
able  speakers  on  each  side;  editors  and  clubs  discuss  the 
question.  So  the  people  are  aroused  and  led  to  consider  their 
public  interests  and  to  think  of  measures,  principles,  and 
policies  and  not  merely  of  the  interest  and  success  of  cer- 
tain candidates. 

In  Oregon  the  State  prints  a  public  pamphlet  containing  a 
statement  of  the  proposed  measure  in  which  its  advocates 
and  opponents  have  a  right  to  insert  a  brief  argument  not  to 
exceed,  say,  two  thousand  words.  Those  who  insert  the 
argument  must  pay  for  the  actual  cost  of  paper  and  printing. 
A  copy  of  this  pamphlet  is  sent  at  public  expense  to  every 
registered  voter  of  the  State  not  later  than  fifty-five  days  before 
the  general  election  and  twenty  days  before  any  special  election. 
That  would  be  a  much  greater  task  in  a  very  populous  State. 

Objections  to  the  Initiative  and  Referendum 

Several  objections  are  urged  to  the  Initiative  and  Refer- 
endum.    The  objectors  urge  the  following: 

I.  The  system  abandons  the  representative  republican 
form  of  government  which  our  fathers  established.  A  test 
case  was  brought  before  the  Supreme  Court  in  an  effort  to 


40 


THE  CITIZEN   AND  THE   REPUBLIC 


Can  the  People 
decide  ques- 
tions Intel- 
ligently? 


show  that  the  Initiative  and  Referendum  in  Oregon  violated 
the  constitutional  guarantee  of  a  repu])lican  form  of  govern- 
ment which  the  United  States  is  bound  to  safeguard  in  every 
state,  but  the  Supreme  Court  held  this  contention  to  be 
unsound.^ 

2.  The  people  will  constantly  be  kept  voting  upon  measures. 
Busy  men  or  women  cannot  afford  the  time.  Only  professional 
agitators  and  cranks,  say  the  opponents  of  the  system,  can  give 
up  the  time  required  to  attend  to  the  necessary  petitioning, 
arguing,  and  voting. 

3.  So  many  questions  are  submitted  at  once  that  the 
people  cannot  vote  inteUigently.  National  politics  and  the 
personal  interests  of  candidates  divert  the  people's  attention. 
The  people  are  more  interested  in  men  than  in  measures,  and 
while  they  will  come  out  and  vote  for  their  friends  or  some 
leader  whom  they  admire,  they  will  neglect  important  policies 
or  have  no  concern  for  them.  How  can  the  people,  it  is 
asked,  be  "educated"  on  so  many  ques-tions  at  once  or  be  ex- 
pected to  vote  intelligently  upon  questions,  many  of  them  tech- 
nical and  abstruse,  where  expert  knowledge  is  needed?  They 
will  be  confused  by  the  conflicting  arguments,  and  in  conse- 
quence will  vote  in  large  numbers  in  the  affirmative  regardless 
of  the  merits  of  the  measures. 

The  experience  in  Oregon  does  not  seem  wholly  to  sustain 
this  view.  The  people  there  have  repeatedly  rejected  a  policy, 
like  woman  suffrage,  and  then  upon  reconsideration  have 
adopted  it.  They  have  not  appeared  to  act  rashly  or  rapidly, 
and  are  not  so  radical  as  some  of  their  leaders.  In  1914  at 
the  general  fall  election  twenty-nine  measures  were  referred 
to  the  people,  including  such  radical  proposals  as  the  single 
tax,  the  abolition  of  the  State  senate  and  of  capital  punish- 
ment. State-wide  prohibition,  an  eight-hour  day,  the  problem 
of  unemployment,  a  non-partisan  judiciary,  municipal  wharfs 

^  Pacific  States  Telephone  and  Telegraph  Co.  vs.  Oregon,  February, 
1912. 


PRESENT  DAY   PROBLEMS    IN  A    DEMOCRACY       41 

and  docks,  and  proportional  representation.  Only  four 
measures  passed.  The  people  vetoed  the  other  twenty-five. 
Experience  goes  to  show  that  the  people  when  in  doubt  vote 
No.     They  must  be  convinced. 

4.  The  system  disregards  the  old  American  idea  of  the 
separation  of  the  powers.  It  disregards  or  denies  the  execu- 
tive veto  and  the  function  of  the  judiciary  to  act  as  the  supreme 
interpreter  of  the  Constitution  and  to  nullify  statutes  as 
unconstitutional.  It  thus  practically  substitutes  an  unwritten 
for  a  written  constitution  and  allows  the  people  to  change  their 
fundamental  law  as  easily  as  the  statute  law.  This  is  too 
democratic,  the  critics  say. 

If  the  courts  should  declare  "unconstitutional"  an  act 
passed  by  the  people  under  the  Initiative  and  Referendum 
because  repugnant  to  the  "higher  law"  of  the  Constitution, 
this  higher  law  can  be  very  easily  referred  and  repealed;  the 
Constitution  can  be  amended  as  easily  as  a  law  can  be  passed. 
The  conservatives  say  this  is  too  easy  and  that  the  courts 
must  not  be  interfered  with  in  interpreting  the  Constitution  ^^^  Consa- 
and  laying  down  the  law.  The  radical  democrats  insist  that  easily  changed? 
a  distinction  should  be  made  between  adjudication  and  judicial 
law-making.  In  a  suit  at  law  between  two  individuals  the 
court  must  not  be  interfered  with  by  popular  clamor  or  any 
popular  action,  but  when  a  court  assumes  to  set  aside  a  popular 
poUcy  which  the  people  have  enacted  into  law,  then  the 
power  of  the  people  shall  be  allowed  to  assert  itself  directly 
over  their  constitution  to  say  what  it  shall  or  shall  not  permit. 
The  people  should  have  control  over  their  policy-determining 
officers,  and  while  judges  in  America  exercise  the  power  of 
determining  or  interfering  with  pubKc  policy  they  must 
expect  to  have  their  power  brought  directly  under  popular 
control  (see  p.  44).  Does  experience  go  to  show  that  the 
people  are  disposed  to  be  conservative  rather  than  radical 
in  changing  their  constitutions? 

5.  It  is  urged  that  direct  legislation  tends  to  lessen  the 


42 


THE   CITIZEN   AND  THE   REPUBLIC 


dignity  and  responsibility  of  legislative  bodies.  Men  of  ability 
and  self-respect  will  not  care  to  become  members  of  a  body 
whose  duties  are  merely  clerical  and  perfunctory,  to  register 
decisions  m'ade  elsewhere.  Also,  it  is  urged,  the  governors 
are  reduced  in  responsibility  and  importance  and  real  leader- 
ship is  prevented.  The  advocates  of  the  Initiative  and 
Referendum  see  the  force  of  this.  They  recognize  the  vital 
need  of  leadership  in  a  democracy;  they  see  that  the  people 
cannot  act  except  under  some  guidance  or  direction,  under 


A        " 

V-   (  ^^'^■ 
If 

O      M       1      N       1 

O      N 

O      F 

C      A      N      A      D 

\  OHIO  Lf^irr^ 

A 

'\.    \            MONT. 

%  V 

c 
o 

S    DAK. 

NEBR.       A 

MO.      I 

\ — z. 

ARK.    /*"" 

OKLA. 

Direct  Democracy 
The  white  States  are  those  which  have  the  Initiative  and  Referendum. 


Emergency 
Remedies 


some  organized  capable  leadership.  They  claim  there  is  no 
essential  conflict  between  leadership  and  popular  rule,  between 
representative  government  and  direct  democracy,  and  that  the 
Initiative  and  Referendum  are  not  for  constant  use,  but  only 
as  emergency  checks  and  emergency  remedies,  to  be  employed 
by  the  people  in  times  of  need.  They  have  been  compared  to 
the  policeman's  club  or  the  gun  behind  the  door,  for  use 
only  when  needed.     The  Initiative  and  Referendum  are  not  to 


PRESENT  DAY   PROBLEMS   IN  A    DEMOCRACY      43 

take  the  place  of  ordinary  legislative  bodies,  but  to  be  used 
merely  as  alternative  and  additional  means  of  legislating. 
It  is  true  that  amending  and  perfecting  a  law  can  be  much 
better  attended  to  while  it  is  under  criticism  in  a  legislative 
body.  There  it  can  be  "whipped  into,  shape"  after  debate, 
but  the  advocates  of  the  Initiative  and  Referendum  claim 
that  this  can  be  done  under  that  system. 

6.  It  is  urged  that  the  Initiative  and  Referendum  may 
easily  be  used  for  foolish  and  frivolous  purposes.  A  few 
people  can  put  the  State  to  the  trouble  and  expense  of  an 
election.  Getting  signatures  to  a  referendum  petition  becomes 
a  trade.  Canvassers,  it  is  said,  agree  to  get  signers  to  a  peti- 
tion for  almost  any  bill  for  five  or  ten  cents  a  name.  This 
abuse  has  not  been  serious  and  the  friends  of  the  reform  assert 
that  when  such  fake  canvassing  has  occurred  it  has  been  done 
by  enemies  of  the  Initiative  and  Referendum  to  make  direct 
legislation  ridiculous. 

In  spite  of  all  these  objections  the  plan  of  direct  legislation 
has  not  been  abandoned  in  any  of  the  States  that  have  adopted 
it  in  full  or  in  part.  (See  map  on  opposite  page  for  the 
States  in  which  it  is  in  operation.) 

The  Recall 

Closely  associated  with  the  Initiative  and  Referendum 
is  the  Recall.  This  enables  the  people,  after  the  lapse  of  a 
specified  time,  to  "recall,"  or  displace,  an  officer  of  whose  acts 
they  do  not  approve.  In  Boston,  for  example,  the  term  of  Should  officers 
ofl&ce  of  the  mayor  is  four  years,  but  he  may  be  recalled  by  nTornaluy? 
the  vote  of  the  people  at  any  time  after  he  has  served  two 
years. 

In  1908  an  amendment  was  made  to  the  constitution  of 
Oregon  providing  for  the  recall  of  public  officers  in  that  State. 
Upon  the  filing  of  a  petition  signed  by  not  less  than  twenty- 
five  per  cent  of  the  voters  a  special  election  may  be  held 
to  determine  whether  or  not  the  people  wish  to  recall  an  officer. 


44 


THE   CITIZEN   AND  THE   REPUBLIC 


"Recall  of 
Judges  and 
Judicial 
Decisions" 


The  reasons  for  the  recall  are  set  forth  upon  the  ballot  in  not 
more  than  two  hundred  words,  and  the  defense  or  justification 
of  the  ofificer  may  be  set  forth  within  similar  limits.  No 
petition  can  be  filed  against  any  official  until  he  has  been  in 
office  for  six  months,  except  in  the  case  of  a  member  of  the 
State  legislature.  In  such  case  a  petition  may  be  filed  after 
five  days  of  the  session  have  elapsed.  A  second  petition  for 
recall  cannot  be  filed  against  an  officer  unless  the  signers  of 
the  petition  pay  all  of  the  expenses  of  the  first  recall  election. 
In  case  it  is  desired  to  recall  the  official,  a  special  election  is 
held,  known  as  the  "recall  election,"  at  which  the  officer  whose 
position  is  in  cjuestion  may  stand  for  vindication  or  indorse- 
ment. That  is,  the  officer  must  retire  or  run  as  a  candidate  for 
a  second  election.  He  continues  in  office  unless  the  recall 
election  goes  against  him.  The  city  of  Seattle  recalled  its 
mayor  a  short  time  ago  and  he  was  a  candidate  to  succeed 
himself  at  the  special  election,  but  was  defeated  by  a  small 
majority.  The  advocates  of  the  Recall  insist  that  the  people, 
after  giving  the  mayor,  or  other  officer,  a  fair  trial  of  a  year 
or  more,  ought  to  be  able  to  get  rid  of  him  if  they  wish  to, 
without  waiting  for  his  full  term  to  expire. 

The  Recall  is  apphed  chiefly  to  municipal  officers.  It 
has  met  with  considerable  favor  and  is  now  in  force  in  a  large 
number  of  important  cities.  Some  have  urged  that  not  only 
administrative  officers  but  judges  also  should  be  subject 
to  the  Recall,  but  this  has  met  with  a  stout  opposition  as  an 
interference  with  the  independence  of  the  judiciary.  The 
''recall  of  judicial  decisions"  has  also  been  urged.  This  does 
not  mean  that  an  ordinary  case  at  law,  after  the  decision  of 
judge  or  jury,  should  be  tried  again  before  the  people,  but 
only  when  a  court  has  interpreted  the  constitution  and  has 
nullified  a  public  measure  as  unconstitutional  which  the  legis- 
lature has  sought  to  adopt,  then  appeal  may  be  made  to  the 
people  to  see  whether  they  will  recall  that  decision  and  inter- 
pret the  constitution  in  a  different  way.     This  would  give 


PRESENT   DAY   PROBLEMS   IN  A    DEMOCRACY       45 

to  the  people  and  not  to  the  judge  the  last  word  in  saying 
what  may  or  may  not  be  done  under  the  constitution^  (see 
PP-  329-335)- 

The  Short  Ballot 

It  is  claimed  that  the  election  ballot  is  too  long  —  and 
too  broad.  In  some  places  it  is  called  the  "blanket  ballot," 
—  it  is  oftentimes  four  feet  long  and  three  feet  broad  and  con- 
tains several  hundred  names.  In  Chicago  it  is  not  unusual 
for  the  voter  to  be  confronted  with  a  bewildering  array  of 
hundreds  of  names  on  his  ballot,  from  which  he  is  expected 
to  choose  a  state  treasurer,  a  state  superintendent  of  public 
instruction,  trustees  of  the  State  University,  a  representative 
in  Congress,  a  state  representative,  a  United  States  Senator, 
county  sheriff,  treasurer,  clerk,  clerk  of  the  circuit  court, 
county  superintendent  of  schools,  judge  of  the  county  court, 
judge  of  a  probate  court,  members  of  the  board  of  assessors, 
nine  judges  of  the  city  court  for  a  two-year  term,  members  of 
the  board  of  tax  review,  ten  members  of  the  board  of  county 
commissioners  and  the  president  of  the  board,  three  sanitary 
trustees,  and  some  others.-  It  is  too  heavy  a  burden  even 
for  the  most  painstaking  and  intelligent  voter.  The  voter 
cannot  know  personally  or  even  by  reputation  one  candidate 
out  of  ten,  and  the  number  of  candidates  on  the  big  ballot 
leads  to  blind  voting.  The  voter  tends  to  "shut  his  eyes"  Blind  Voting 
and  vote  a  straight  ticket.  That  is,  he  votes  for  "slates," 
or  columns  of  candidates,  or  emblems  (roosters  and  eagles) 
without  trying  to  discriminate  among  the  men  on  his  party 
ticket.  He  thus  becomes  the  tool  or  victim  of  the  Boss 
who  fixes  the  nominations  beforehand.  The  reform  of  the 
Short  Ballot  proposes  to  remedy  this  by  putting  up  fewer 
men  to  elect,  in  local  elections,  who  can  be  better  known  by 

^  For  further  objections  to  the  Recall  and  further  discussion,  see 
Woodburn's  Political  Parties  and  Party  Problems,  pp.  452-455. 
^  Garner's  Government  of  the  United  States,  p.  138. 


46 


THE  CITIZEN   AND  THE   REPUBLIC 


the  people  and  be  made  more  responsible  for  their  conduct. 
All  subordinate  officers   (whose  functions  are  not  political) 

can  be  appointed  by  these 


Consecutive        ]M? 


48 


Name  of  Voter 


Residence 


The  Problem 
of  the  Primary 


Registered  No.  of  Voter 


1  the  square  i 


To  vote  for  any  candidate,  make  a  cru33i^(  lu  ....^^-«>.  -. 
the  appropriate  column  according  to  your  choice,  at  the  ngnt  ot 
the  name  voted  for. 

Vote  your  firrt  choice  in  the  first  column. 

Vote  your  aecond  choice  in  the  second  cotunnn. 

Vote  in  the  third  column  for  aU  other  candidates  whom  yoa 
wish  to  support,  J    V  ■ 

Donot  vote  more  than  one  first  choice  and  one  second  onoice 
for  any  one  office.  .        .  ..j  ^ 

Do  not  vote  more  than  one  choice  for  the  same  candidate,  as 
only  one  chofce  will  count  for  any  one  candidate. 

If  you  wrongly  mark,  tear  or  deface  this  ballot,  return  it  and 
obtam  another. 


few  or  by  boards  respon- 
sible to  them.     The  people 
can   learn   about  and  will 
interest  themselves  in   the 
election  of  these   three  or 
four  important  and  respon- 
sible officers  and  will  exert 
themselves  to  make  a  good 
choice.      In  national  poli- 
tics, for  instance,  we  elect 
the    President,    Vice-Presi- 
dent, Senator   and  Repre- 
sentative,    and     stop     at 
that,    while    over    400,000 
Federal  office  holders   are 
placed  in  office   under  re- 
sponsible    appointment. 
Why   could  not   the  same 
principle  be  apphed  in  State 
and  local  government?^ 

The  Party  Primary 

Early  in  the  life  of  po- 
htical  parties  the  word 
primary  was  used  to  indi- 
cate the  group  of  voters, 
or  the  meeting  of  such  voters,  who  nominated  the  candidates 
for  office.  It  may  have  referred  merely  to  a  small  caucus, 
1  For  further  study  of  the  Short  Ballot,  see  Outlook,  July  17,  1907; 
Papers  of  the  American  Political  Science  Association,  vol.  vii;  C.  L. 
Tones,  Readings  m  Parties  and  Elections,  Annals  of  the  American 
Academy,  1911.  The  Short  Ballot  League,  127  Duane  Street,  New 
York,  will  furnish  pamphlets  on  the  subject. 


^^^^^ 

= 

FOR  MAYOR                First 

(One  to  W  Elected)            Choice 

Secand 
Choice 

Other 
Choices 

i 

JOS.  E.  BOBB 

1 

NEWTON  D    bAKER 

= 

HARRY    U   DAVIS 

i 

1 

1 

WARD  « 
FOR  COUNCn, 

(One  to  le    Elected) 

First 
Choice 

Second 
Choice 

Other 
Choices 

= 

NIQIOLAS  PAPP 

1 

1 

CHAS.    MARQUARD 

— 

1 

1 

A  Specimen  Short  Ballot  for  a 
City  Election 


PRESENT   DAY   PROBLEMS   IN  A    DEMOCRACY       47 

or  informal  meeting  of  party  managers  or  interested  voters. 
Sometimes  in  local  politics  a  mass  meeting  of  party  voters  in 
the  town  or  county  was  called  for  nominating  a  candidate  or  a 
ticket,  or  to  appoint  delegates  to  some  party  convention,  and 
everybody  was  entitled  to  come  who  claimed  membership  in 
the  party.  Usually  delegates  to  district  and  State  conventions 
of  the  party  were  chosen  by  these  irregular  local  primaries  or 
caucuses  or  mass  meetings.  If  a  great  many  were  present  at 
the  primary,  or  meeting,  and  there  were  contests  or  divisioris 
among  the  party  members,  some  kind  of  formal  voting  was 
permitted.  Someone  passed  a  hat  for  the  "ballots"  and  a 
committee  was  appointed  to  count  out  the  votes.  But  there 
was  a  good  chance  to  "stuff"  the  hat  and  to  commit  fraud 
in  the  count.  Everything  depended  on  the  chairman  or  the 
committees  he  appointed. 

Sometimes  the  primaries  would  be  called  at  inconvenient 
times  and  places,  in  saloons  and  livery  stables,  or  in  rooms 
which  could  not  hold  half  the  voters,  so  that  many  who  came 
could  not  get  in.  Sometimes  the  party  managers  failed  to 
give  due  public  notice  of  the  primary,  and  "snap  primaries" 
were  held,  delegates  were  appointed  and  a  ticket  nominated    i"eguiarmes 

^  ,  .         r^  -in  nominating 

before  the  people  knew  anythmg  about  it.    Or,  a  group  of  men    candidates  and 

in  a  back  room  in  secret  conclave  would  "set  things  up"  and   delegates 

the  loyal  party  voter  when  he  came  to  the  open  primary 

found  that  there  had  already  been  a  primary,  —  the  bosses 

and  the  rings  had  arranged  his  ticket  for  him.     These  abuses 

and  practices  were  especially  prevalent  in  large  cities  where 

the  people  could  not  know  one  another.      The  consequence 

was  that  the  bosses  and  their  henchmen  virtually  directed  the 

nominations.     The  party  meeting,  or  "primary,"  was  in  no 

way  directed  by  law.     The  law  took  no  notice  of  the  party 

or  its  conduct,  or  the  way  in  which  its  members  brought  out 

its  ticket  of  candidates.     Only  the  final  election  was  regulated 

by  law.     But  it  was  soon  to  be  seen  that  the  nomination  was 

as  important  as  the  election.     If  good  ofi&cers  were  to  be  chosen 


48 


THE   CITIZEN   AND  THE   REPUBLIC 


Convention 
Houses 


State  Control 
of  the  Primary 


and  if  only  those  on  a  party  ticket  had  any  chance,  the  nomi- 
nating primary  was  even  more  important  than  the  election. 

These  irregular  and  lawless  primaries  and  caucuses  were 
not  used  so  much  to  make  direct  local  nominations  but  rather 
to  name  delegates  to  conventions  for  that  purpose,  —  city 
conventions,  county  conventions,  district  conventions,  State 
conventions.  These  delegate  conventions  were  controlled 
by  those  who  controlled  the  local  caucuses  and  primaries. 
The  people  began  to  believe  that  the  convention  was  not  always 
fair  and  might  be  corrupt,  and  that  it  did  not  fairly  represent 
the  people  and  did  not  name  for  office  the  men  the  people  or 
the  voters  of  the  party  would  have  chosen.  The  convention 
was  manipulated  by  rings  of  professional  poUticians  and  ofiice- 
holders  who  gave  all  their  time  to  politics;  "slates"  and 
"deals"  were  made,  delegates  were  bought,  and  sold  and 
merely  a  handful  of  men  determined  the  action  of  the  party. 
So  the  demand  for  primary  election  reform  arose.  The  re- 
formers insisted  that  the  convention  as  a  means  of  making 
nominations  should  be  abandoned  and  that  the  whole  body 
of  the  party  should  be  allowed  to  take  part  in  choosing 
the  candidate,  in  order  that  men  who  cannot  make  poUtics 
their  business  or  who  will  not  indulge  in  dishonorable  practices 
might  better  make  their  influence  felt. 

In  consequence  of  these  demands  and  conditions  most 
of  the  States  have  passed  primary  election  laws  to  regulate 
the  making  of  nominations.  When  and  how  and  where  shall 
a  primary  election  be  called?  Who  shall  conduct  it?  Who 
may  take  part  in  it?  How  shall  its  expenses  be  met?  How 
shall  the  ballot  be  prepared  and  what  candidates'  names  may 
appear  thereon?  Shall  the  regular  election  laws  apply  to  its 
conduct  and  what  penalties  shall  be  imposed  for  law  violation? 
All  such  matters  must  be  attended  to  by  the  States.  A  primary 
becomes  another  election  and  since  every  member  of  the  party 
should  have  an  equal  chance  with  every  other  this  right  must  be 
safeguarded  by  law,  and  irregularities  and  abuses  must  be 


PRESENT  DAY   PROBLEMS   IN  A    DEMOCRACY       49 

prevented  as  in  the  regular  election.  At  first  the  primary 
election  laws  applied  only  to  larger  cities  and  were  made 
optional  elsewhere,  allowing  local  communities  to  nominate 
their  candidates  by  a  primary  election  (managed  by  party 
committees)  if  they  chose  to  do  so.  But  in  recent  years 
most  of  the  States  have  enacted  State-wide  primary  laws 
which  are  mandatory  in  all  localities  and  for  all  parties, 
especially  for  local  nominations.  In  many  States,  nominations 
for  the  State  and  Congressional  tickets  are  still  made  by 
conventions,  though  the  delegates  to  these  conventions  may 
be  elected  by  regulated  primaries. 

Essential  Features  in  Party  Primaries 

Certain  features  are  considered  essential  in  a  good  primary 
election  law: 

1.  The  primary  election  of  all  parties  shall  be  held  on  the 
same  day,  the  time  and  place  to  be  fixed  by  law  and  not  left 
to  party  committees.  This  will  prevent  "snap  primaries," 
and  primary  day,  say  from  thirty  to  sixty  days  before 
election,  will  become  as  well  known  as  election  day  is  now. 
The  voters  of  one  party  will  be  prevented  from  "packing" 
the  primary  of  the  other  party  and  nominating  weak  candi- 
dates. The  same  election  officials  can  conduct  the  primaries 
of  all  parties  and  save  expenses. 

2.  A  good  registration  law.  The  party  voters  must  be 
registered  a  certain  number  of  days  before  the  primary,  so 
that  illegal  or  fraudulent  voting  may  be  prevented. 

3.  The  party  affiliation  or  preference  of  all  voters  should  be 
ascertained  and  recorded.  No  opponent  of  a  party  should 
be  allowed  to  vote  in  its  primary.  The  law  should  protect  a 
party  from  its  enemies  who  may  seek  to  weaken  or  disrupt 
it.  The  test  of  party  membership  or  party  fealty  is  a  difficult 
matter  in  framing  primary  election  laws.  Sometimes  a 
pledge  is  required  of  the  voter  that  he  will  support  the  ticket 
nominated,  or  a  statement  that  he  voted  the  party  ticket,  or 


$0  THE  CITIZEN   AND  THE   REPUBLIC 

most  of  it,  in  the  last  election.  Many  independent  voters 
cannot  make  such  pledges  or  statements  and  do  not  care 
to  announce  their  party  allegiance.  Party  officers  generally 
wish  to  be  liberal  in  admitting  the  independent  element 
within  the  party,  and  experience  has  shown  that  it  is  not  the 
part  of  party  wisdom  to  apply  hard  party  tests  or  cast-iron 
pledges.  A  mere  declaration  of  party  preference  may  be 
sufficient.  Self-respecting  and  honorable  men  will  not  attempt 
to  vote  in  the  primary  of  a  party  whose  principles  and  policies 
they  are  unwilling  to  promote,  and  the  unscrupulous  will  do 
so  in  the  face  of  pledges.  If  a  man  wishes  to  be  so  independent 
as  not  to  acknowledge  that  he  has  any  party  allegiance  at  all, 
he  may  deny  himself  the  privilege  of  taking  part  in  a  primary 
and  merely  confine  himself  to  choosing  between  the  parties  after 
the  nominations  are  made.     This,  of  course,  is  a  man's  privilege. 

4.  The  Australian  secret  ballot  system  of  voting  should  be 
used  in  the  primary,  as  in  the  regular  election.  All  the  safe- 
guards  of   the   law   should   be   placed   around    the   primary. 

There  are  other  minor  features  in  a  primary  election, 
(i)  It  should  be  mandatory  and  not  left  to  the  option  of 
party  committees.  (2)  The  candidates'  names  should  rotate 
on  the  printed  ballot,  each  candidate  having  his  name  first  on 
an  equal  number.  A  name  appearing  first  on  the  ballot  has  a 
distinct  advantage,  as  many  indifferent  voters,  not  knowing  the 
candidates,  are  likely  to  vote  for  the  first  on  the  list.  Adams 
would  therefore  have  an  advantage  over  Williams  if  the  names 
were  arranged  alphabetically.  In  a  poll  of  twenty  thousand 
the  first  place  is  probably  worth  one  thousand  votes.  If  the 
man's'  name  is  placed  first  who  filed  his  application  first,  there 
may  be  collusion  with  party  chairmen  of  committees.  Ro- 
tation seems  fairer.  (3)  A  goodly  number  of  names  should 
be  required  on  nominating  petitions  and  a  reasonable  fee  for 
the  expenses  of  the  primary  should  be  paid  before  a  man's 
name  is  permitted  to  go  on  the  ballot.  This  will  aid  in  pre- 
venting fake  candidacies. 


PRESENT   DAY   PROBLEMS   IN   A   DEMOCRACY       51 

Polling  places  must  be  rented,  election  oflEicers  employed,  bal- 
lots printed  and  distributed.  In  some  States  it  is  provided 
that  the  expense  for  these  things  is  paid  by  the  pubhc  on  the 
ground  that  the  primary  election  is  a  matter  of  pubUc  concern 
and  is  not  held  in  the  interest  of  the  candidates.  By  other  laws 
a  fee  is  exacted  of  the  candidate,  ten  dollars  or  more,  to  be  col- 
lected and  used  by  public  officials  and  not  by  party  committees. 

If  party  delegates  do  not  meet  in  convention  to  nominate 
a  ticket  how  shall  the  party  platform  be  announced?  In 
Oregon  each  candidate  nominated  by  the  primary  is  required 
to  announce  his  own  platform  in  a  brief  statement  of  one    "^^^  Primary 

.  and  the  Party 

hundred  words.  In  Wisconsm  the  candidates  of  the  party  piatform 
for  State  offices  and  for  the  legislature  meet  together  and 
announce  the  policies  which  they  will  act  upon  if  elected. 
In  ]\Iissouri  the  party  candidates  for  Congress  act  with  the 
other  candidates  in  making  a  party  platform.  In  Texas 
if  ten  per  cent  of  the  party  voters  ask  for  it  by  petition,  a 
question  of  party  policy  must  be  submitted  to  the  voters  in 
the  primary.  Under  such  plans  the  voters  will  know  what  to 
expect  if  certain  candidates  are  elected.  It  should  be  known 
that  the  candidates  represent  and  will  stand  on  their  platforms, 
both  before  and  after  election. 

Objections  to  t/ie  Prhnary  System 

We  can  here  only  briefly  state  the  various  objections  that 
are  made  to  the  primary  system: 

1.  It  tends  to  promote  rather  than  check  election  cor- 
ruption. A  primary  is  only  another  election,  and  until  our 
elections  can  be  reformed  we  ought  not  to  have  any  more  of 
them.     This  objection  has  weight  with  many  people. 

2.  It  promotes  a  multiplicity  of  candidates  to  the  confusion 
of  the  voters,  and  is  likely  to  lead  to  a  minority  nomination. 
The  "ring"  may  bring  out  a  whole  lot  of  candidates  to  divide 
the  anti-ring  vote  while  concentrating  their  own  votes  on  their 
man.     Thus  a  man  may  be  nominated  who  represents  but  a 


52  THE  CITIZEN   AND  THE   REPUBLIC 

third  or  a  fourth  of  the  party  voters,  merely  because  he  may 
receive  more  votes  than  any  one  else  but  may  lack  many 
votes  of  having  a  majority.  A  convention  may  keep  on  bal- 
loting until  some  one  receives  a  majority  of  all;  so  if  one  of 
the  leading  candidates  cannot  be  nominated,  a  new  man 
satisfactory  to  a  majority  as  second  choice  may  be  nominated. 
This  objection  may  be  partly  obviated  by  the  short  ballot 
(see  p.  45)  and  by  a  system  of  preferential  voting  (see  p.  54). 
In  South  Carolina  the  primary  law  provides  that  if  no  candi- 
date for  governor  receives  a  majority  of  the  party  vote  in 
the  first  primary,  a  second  primary  shall  be  held  to  choose 
between  the  two  leading  candidates. 

3.  It  is  claimed  by  party  men  that  the  primary  system 
tends  to  weaken  and  destroy  the  party.  It  causes  factions, 
jealousies,  and  divisions,  and  prevents  effective  organization 
for  carrying  elections.  State  candidates  cannot  be  properly 
distributed  in  a  geographical  way  so  as  to  strengthen  the 
party  in  all  parts  of  the  State.  Others  contend  that  the  pri- 
mary system  tends  to  strengthen  parties,  as  it  so  reforms 
their  practices  that  men  who  have  become  antagonized  and 
disgusted  come  into  more  active  party  relations. 

4.  It  is  claimed  that  where  the  primary  nominating 
method  is  applied  to  a  whole  State  for  State  offices  the  ex- 
pense of  becoming  a  winning  candidate  is  so  great  that  only 
rich  men  may  hope  to  succeed. 

The  primary  nominating  system,  while  marking  a  demo- 
cratic advance  over  the  convention  system,  has  not  produced 
results  that  are  entirely  satisfactory.  It  has  been  the  first 
means  of  breaking  the  hold  of  the  political  boss  and  his  ring, 
but  in  order  to  accomplish  the  end  in  view,  to  allow  the  people 
to  rule,  the  advocates  of  popular  government  claim  that  two 
elections  should  be  avoided  and  that  the  primary  should 
be  superseded  by  a  system  of  nomination  by  petitions  com- 
bined with  the  short  ballot  and  the  use  of  the  preferential 
voting. 


PRESENT  DAY   PROBLEMS   IN  A   DEMOCRACY       53 


Nominations  by  Petitions 

These  instruments  of  popular  control  are  intended  to  apply 
more  especially  in  local  elections.  Nomination  hy  petition 
involves  bringing  out  candidates  without  reference  to  their 
party  relations  and  without  party  action.  The  Party  has 
been  made  use  of  by  self-seeking  men  for  their  own  gain. 
The  party  managers  ask  the  masses  of  the  voters  (most  of 
whom  never  expect  to  hold  ofl&ce  nor  do  they  aspire  to  do  so) 
to  be  loyal  to  the  party  for  the  sake  of  the  managers  and 
candidates,  to  put  them  into  office.  They  would  sacrifice 
good  government  for  partyism  and  they  would  sacrifice  the 
party  for  themselves. 

It  matters  little,  or  none  at  all,  in  local  government,  to  what 
party  the  officers  belong.  Honesty,  efficiency,  and  public 
spirit  in  office  are  what  the  people  want.  In  city  elections, 
on  questions  relating  to  schools,  to  public  health,  to  suppression 
of  crime,  to  the  water  supply,  to  the  regulation  of  public  utili- 
ties and  all  similar  questions,  it  is  to  the  people's  interest  to 
disregard  all  party  issues  and  party  agencies.  By  the  system 
of  nominations  by  petitions  they  are  enabled  to  do  this. 
To  nominate  by  petition  means  that  if  any  body  of  voters 
(a  certain  per  cent  provided  in  the  law)  sign  a  petition  for  a 
nomination,  the  name  signed  for  must  go  on  the  official  ballot, 
and  it  goes  on  without  party  emblem,  column,  or  indication, 
and  that  is  the  only  way  in  which  any  name  may  go  on.  There 
are  to  be  no  party  signs,  circles,  or  fixtures.  If  party  managers 
still  wish  to  hold  a  city  convention,  nominate  a  set  of  party 
candidates  and  have  their  names  put  on  the  ballot  by  petition, 
they  could  do  so,  —  if  the  convention  could  enroll  enough 
people,  —  but  they  cannot  use  a  party  emblem.  If  men  then 
voted  in  groups  for  the  same  candidates  they  would  be  natural 
groups  brought  together  for  unity  of  action  by  a  common 
opinion  and  common  purpose.  The  party  spoilsmen  will 
find  a  way  of  acting  together,  if  they  can  agree;  so  will  those 


False  Party 
Loyalty 


Non-Partl- 
san  Local 
Government 


54 


THE   CITIZEN   AND  THE   REPUBLIC 


Danger  of 
Minority 
Control  in 
making 
Nominations 


who  are  opposed  to  their  ways  and  their  men.  The  names  on 
the  nominating  petitions  will  be  known  and  so  will  the  char- 
acter of  the  candidates. 

Those  who  urge  the  substitution  of  the  petition  nominating 
method  instead  of  the  primary  election,  emphasize  the  serious 
danger  of  the  plurality  nomination  which  the  primary  tends 
to  promote.  A  bad  man  gets  a  valuable  political  asset  when 
he  gets  a  party  nomination;  he  can  then  use  the  party  label 
to  draw  votes.  "Whoever  else  may  appear  at  a  primary, 
those  with  axes  to  grind  are  pretty  sure  to  be  there  to  a  man, 
and  of  these  the  largest  single  faction,  or  plurality,  is  more  than 
likely  to  be  machine-ridden.  A  minority  goes  to  the  primary. 
A  minority  of  that  minority  is  more  than  likely  to  carry  the 
primary.  A  nomination  is  made  by  a  minority  of  the  minority 
because  the  procedure  divides  the  majority."  The  machine 
forces  act  on  the  old  maxim,  "Divide  and  conquer."  If  the 
boss's  opponents  are  divided,  he  wins,  and  the  more  candidates 
the  smaller  the  group  required  to  win.  The  majority  are 
more  likely  to  be  self-respecting  voters  of  independent  minds, 
and  they  cannot,  therefore,  be  so  readily  marshalled  to  act  as  a 
unit.^  When  the  shackles  of  party  are  lifted  and  the  people  do 
not  have  to  choose  the  "lesser  of  two  evils"  but  are  free  to  act 
with  independent  leaders  who  are  concerned  with  local  needs 
and  are  well  educated  on  local  issues,  then  a  party  nomination 
for  a  man  may  prove  to  be  an  element  of  weakness  rather  than 
strength. 

The  Preferential  Ballot 

The  preferential  ballot  is  vital  to  the  plan  of  non-partisan 
local  government.  Further  explanation  of  preferential  voting 
may  be  found  in  a  description  of  the  Buckhn  system,  named 
after  Hon.  James  W.  Buckhn  of  Grand  Junction,  Colorado, 

1  These  considerations  and  other  forceful  points  are  brought  out  in 
the  address  of  Professor  Lewis  J.  Johnson,  "The  Preferential  Ballot  as 
a  Substitute  for  the  Direct  Primary,"  Senate  Document  No.  985,  63d 
Congress,  3d  Session. 


PRESENT   DAY   PROBLEMS   IN   A   DEMOCRACY      SS 


who  originated  it.  It  is  put  forward  by  students  of  government 
as  good  in  theory  and  the  best  yet  known  in  workable  prac- 
tice. "The  ballot  is  easily  understood,  easily  voted  and  easily 
counted."  It  will  attract  desirable  candidates  and  is  calcu- 
lated to  protect  the  general  interest  against  cliques,  machines 
and  special  interests.  In  the  city  of  Cleveland  it  has  supplanted 
the  primary  and  has  resulted  in  easy  non-partisan  elections. 
The  accompanying  illustrations  will  aid  in  understanding  it: 


The  Bucklin 
System  of 
Preferential 
Voting 


Ballot  Illustrating  Preferential  Voting 
(Bucklin  system) 

Instructions.  —  To  vote  for  a  candidate  make  a  cross  (X)  in  the 
appropriate  space. 

Vote  your  first  choice  in  the  first  column. 

Vote  your  second  choice  in  the  second  column. 

Vote  only  one  first  choice  and  only  one  second  choice  for  any  one 
office. 

Vote  in  the  third  column  for  all  the  other  candidates  whom  you 
wish  to  support. 

Do  not  vote  more  than  one  choice  for  one  person,  as  only  one 
choice  will  count  for  any  candidate. 


For  Mayor 
(One  to  be  elected) 

First  choice 
(Not  more 
than  one) 

Second  choice. 
(Not  more 
than  one) 

Other  choices. 
(As  many  as 
you  wish) 

Charles  E.  Hughes 

X 

Champ  Clark 

Robert  L.  Owen 

X 

William  H.  Taft 

Woodrow  Wilson 

X 

William  J.  Bryan 

X 

Theodore  Roosevelt 

X 

$6  THE  CITIZEN   AND  THE   REPUBLIC 

"A  voter  marks  his  first  choice  by  placing  a  cross  in  the 
first  or  left-hand  of  these  columns  opposite  his  first-choice 
candidate's  name  and,  if  he  wishes,  a  second  choice  l)y  a 
similar  cross  in  the  second  column,  and  as  many  other  choices 
as  he  desires  (without  attempting  to  grade  them)  by  addi- 
tional crosses  in  the  third  or  right-hand  column,  but  only 
one  choice  will  be  counted  for  any  one  candidate.  If  a  can- 
didate receives  a  majority  of  the  first  choices,  he  is  elected; 
if  not,  the  first  and  second  choices  for  each  candidate  are 
added  together.  The  man  then  highest  wins,  provided  he 
has  that  majority;  if  no  one  thus  receives  a  majority,  all 
three  choices  for  each  candidate  are  added  together  and  the 
highest  man  wins  whether  he  has  a  majority  or  not.  This, 
with  elimination  of  the  primary  election,  insures  either  that 
the  man  elected  is  either  the  choice  of  a  majority  of  the  voters, 
or  is  the  man  among  the  nominees  commanding  the  largest 
following  of  all  after  a  free  and  full  expression  of  choice  by 
the  voters.  In  fact,  there  will  be  a  majority  of  the  voters 
behind  the  winner,  unless  the  list  of  nominees  contains  no 
one  who  can  command  a  majority.  Then  we  have  the  next 
best  thing,  and  probably  the  best  possible  with  that  list  of 
nominees."^ 

It  is  expected  that  the  voter  will  express  choices  only  for 
such  candidates  as  he  is  wilhng  to  help  elect;  he  should  leave 
undesirable  candidates  unvoted  for,  as  in  the  Australian  ballot 
(see  p.  1 6).  If  the  voter  puts  his  cross  (x)  in  the  second 
or  third  column,  he  may,  in  so  doing,  help  to  defeat  his  own 
first  choice,  but  out  of  a  list  of  desirable  candidates  he  will 
be  satisfied  if  his  second  or  lower-choice  man  beats  a  ring 
candidate  or  an  "undesirable  citizen."  The  honest  voter's 
main  purpose  is  to  keep  out  bad  and  incompetent  men  and 
that  greatly  outweighs  with  him  the  loss  of  his  personal 
choice.  This  completely  "turns  the  tables"  on  the  machine 
partisan  or  henchman  who   puts   private  schemes  ahead  of 

^  Johnson's  "Preferential  Ballot  as  a  Substitute  for  the  Primary." 


PRESENT   DAY   PROBLEMS   IN   A   DEMOCRACY       57 

the  public  good  and  into  whose  hands  the  present  system  so 
perniciously  plays. ^ 

Uoiv  the  BiickUn  System  Works  in  Practice 

Practical  working  of  preferential  voting,  Grand  Junction,  Colo., 
November  2,  1909 

Total  number  of  ballots  cast 1,847 

Majority     (of     first    choices) 900 

Result  of  the  votes  for  mayor 

Combined  Combined 

First  Second  Other  firsts  firsts,  sec- 

choice  choice  choices  and  onds, 

seconds  others 

D.  W.  Aupperle 465  i43  i45  608  753 

W.  H.  Bannister 603  93  43  696  739 

N.  A.  Lough 99  231  328  330  658 

E.  B.  Lutes 41  114  88  155  243 

E.  M.  Slocomb 229  357  326  586  912 

T.  M.  Todd  (elected) 362  293  396  655  1,051 

1,799       1,231  1,326 

The  light  vote  in  the  second  and  third  columns  is,  of  course,  due  to 
the  603  Bannister  voters'  natural  concentration  on  the  only  candidate 
acceptable  to  them.  This  gave  them  a  lead  in  first  choices,  but  being 
in  the  minority  they  could  not  win  against  the  majority,  because, 
thanks  to  this  ballot,  the  majority  were  able  to  get  together. 


Preferential 

Voting 

Illustrated 


The  decision  arrived  at  was  as  follows: 

No  one  having  a  majority  in  first  choices,  the  firsts  and 
seconds  were  added  together.  Then  the  leading  candidate, 
Bannister,  provided  he  had  a  majority,  would  have  won. 

No  one  having  a  majority  by  combined  firsts  and  seconds, 
the  first,  second,  and  other  choices  were  added  together, 
and  Todd,  the  candidate  then  leading,  won. 

Under  the  usual  plurahty  system  the  minority  would  have 
beaten  the  majority  and  elected  Bannister. 

The  scheme  worked  well  in  Spokane  in  igii  at  the  first 
election  under  the  Commission  Government.  There  were 
five  candidates  to  elect,  each  ofiice  carrying  a  salary  of  $5000. 
1  Johnson's  "  Preferential  Ballot,"  p.  4. 


Result  of 
Preferential 
Voting  in 
Spokane 


58  THE   CITIZEN   AND  THE   REPUBLIC 

Nominations  could  be  made  by  twenty-five  citizens.  There 
were  ninety-two  candidates  for  the  five  offices.  There  were 
over  22,000  votes  cast,  including  7000  women  voters  who 
were  voting  for  the  first  time.  The  election  went  off  without 
difficulty.  Of  the  twelve  highest  names  on  the  list  as  well  as 
of  the  five  elected,  not  one  had  ever  held  an  elective  office 
before.  They  were  men  successful  in  business,  a  type  quite 
different  from  the  ordinary  politician.  One  of  the  men  elected 
(the  President  of  the  Spokane  Chamber  of  Commerce)  was 
nominated  and  elected  while  he  was  absent  from  the  State. 
His  only  campaigning  consisted  in  accepting  the  nomination 
and  writing  two  or  three  letters  home  which  were  published 
in  the  local  papers,  —  quite  different  from  the  corrupt  and 
unseemly  campaign  methods  which  most  of  our  cities  are 
familiar  with.  Of  the  five  winners  in  Spokane  no  one  could 
command  a  majority  of  first  choice  votes,  but  all  were  men  of 
standing,  successful  in  life,  of  high  civic  spirit.  Spokane 
found  that  the  change  in  the  rules  had  worked  well. 

At  the  next  election  two  men  were  to  be  elected.  The  first 
trial  had  shown  the  uselessness  of  trifling  candidacies.  This 
time  there  were  only  twelve  candidates,  ten  besides  the  two 
incumbents  who  were  candidates  for  reelection.  Strong  as 
these  two  men  were,  the  voters  selected  two  others  in  their  places, 
—  they  seemed  overtopped  by  still  more  respectable  men.^ 

The  system  of  preferential  voting  has  supplanted  the  primary 
in  more  than  twenty-five  cities,  and  it  bids  fair  to  come  into 
general  use  like  the  Australian  ballot. 

Proportional  Representation 

Another  problem  much  discussed  in  recent  years  is  that  of 
proportional  representation.  There  are  several  plans  of 
proportional  representation.  They  are  devised  for  the 
better  representation  of  the  minority,  that  parties,  interests, 

1  This  description  is  taken  from  Professor  Johnson's  address  pre- 
viously cited,  and  substantially  in  his  language. 


PRESENT  DAY  PROBLEMS  IN  A  DEMOCRACY        59 

or  groups  may  be  represented  in  the  governing  body  in  Proportional 
proportion  to  their  numbers.  Every  plan  involves  the  elec- 
tion of  at  least  three  persons  at  one  voting.  Under  the 
"limited  vote"  plan,  if  three  persons  are  to  be  elected 
in  one  election  (as  three  commissioners  for  a  county,  or 
three  representatives  for  the  legislature  from  a  district  in 
the  state,  or  three  councilmen-at-large  for  a  city),  no  voter  is 
allowed  to  vote  for  more  than  two  candidates.  The  minority 
party  may  then  surely  elect  one  if  it  nominates  only  one  and 
if  all  or  most  of  the  party  vote  for  him.  By  the  "cumulative 
vote"  plan,  each  voter  may  cast  as  many  votes  as  there  are 
candidates  to  be  elected.  He  may  distribute  these  votes, 
giving  one  to  each  candidate,  or  he  may  concentrate  them  upon 
one,  giving  three  votes  for  one  man.  By  organized  concen- 
tration the  minority  party  may  nearly  always  secure  a  fair 
representation.  In  applying  proportional  representation  in 
a  city,  ward  lines  should  be  abolished.  Every  councilman, 
or  alderman,  represents  the  whole  city,  no  matter  in  what 
part  of  the  city  he  may  live.  He  votes  on  franchises,  revenues, 
and  all  kinds  of  business  in  which  the  whole  city  is  interested. 
All  the  people  of  the  city  are  his  constituents  and  all  should 
be  allowed  to  help  elect  or  defeat  him.  However,  since 
special  local  interests  in  a  city  may  need  attention  from  a 
Board  of  Aldermen,  it  is  not  unreasonable  to  require  that  the 
list  of  candidates  should  be  representative  of  different  parts 
of  the  city  but  all  should  be  voted  for  by  the  city  at  large. 
In  this  way  a  ward  boss  or  heeler  whom  a  ward  might  send  to 
the  council  could  be  defeated. 

Proportional  representation  is  still  more  easily  worked  by 
combining  it  with  preferential  voting.  Among  a  list  of  candi- 
dates the  voter  may  put  the  figure  i  opposite  his  first  choice, 
the  figure  2  opposite  his  second  choice,  and  so  on  for  as  many 
candidates  as  he  wishes  to  vote  for.  By  an  addition  of  choices 
any  number  of  officers  out  of  any  number  of  candidates  may 
be  elected  and  every  voter  may  have  the  assurance  that  he 


6o  THE   CITIZEN   AND  THE   REPUBLIC 

is  not  "throwing  his  vote  away"  and  that  he  will  not  go 
unrepresented,  but  that  his  vote  is  certain  to  contribute  to 
the  election  of  one  or  more  of  the  men  of  his  choice.^ 

The  Spoils  and  the  Merit  System 

Ever   since    Jackson's    time    the    problem    of    the    "Spoils 
System"    has    confronted    the    American    democracy.      The 
people  of  the  United  States  have  had  a  sad  experience  with 
The  Spoils  the  problem.     They  have  succeeded  in   the  face  of  opposi- 

Nationa/oov-     ^'^^   ^^    Substituting    the    merit    system    to   a    large   extent. 
emment  The  merit  system  simply  means  the  holding  of  office  on  the 

basis  of  merit  rather  than  on  the  basis  of  political  "pull"  or 
influence.  There  was  a  time  when  lucrative  and  important 
offices  were  parcelled  out  to  politicians  and  their  friends  with- 
out much  regard  to  their  fitness  to  fill  them.  This  practice 
began  in  some  of  the  States,  especially  in  New  York  and 
Pennsylvania,  before  it  was  introduced  into  national  politics. 
It  was  under  Jackson,  after  1829,  that  announcement  was 
made,  "To  the  victors  belong  the  spoils,"^  which  means 
that  public  offices  and  salaries  shall  be  used  to  reward  party 
workers.  Whether  the  men  appointed  were  competent  and 
honest  was  a  secondary  matter.  Party  Presidents  after 
Jackson  followed  the  same  rule. 

1  There  is  an  American  Proportional  Representation  League  which 
publishes  a  Proportional  Representation  Review.  The  number  of  the 
Review  for  October,  1914,  contains  an  analysis  of  the  political  com- 
plexion of  the  House  of  Representatives  at  Washington,  showing  the 
misrepresentation  involved.  In  Illinois  the  Democrats  secured  one 
member  of  Congress  for  every  23,000  Democratic  votes  cast,  the 
Republicans  one  for  every  73,000  of  their  votes,  the  Progressives 
one  for  every  125,000.  This  gave  the  Democrats  three  times  as  much 
representation  as  the  Republicans  and  five  times  as  much  as  the 
Progressives.  The  Socialists  in  Illinois  cast  nearly  70,000  votes  and 
got  no  representation.  If  representation  had  been  proportional,  the 
Democrats  would  have  had  11  members  instead  of  20,  the  Repub- 
licans 8  instead  of  5,  the  Progressives  6  instead  of  2,  the  Socialists 
2  instead  of  none. 

^  Said  by  Senator  Marcy  of  New  York. 


PRESENT  DAY  PROBLEMS  IN  A  DEMOCRACY       6 1 

It  was  not  until  1SS3  that  Congress  was  moved  to  pass 
an  act  for  the  reform  of  the  civil  service.  By  this  act  a  civil 
service  commission  of  three  men  was  constituted  to  have  civu  Service 
charge  of  the  new  merit  plan.  Under  this  act  the  appoint-  c°™^^^*°° 
ment  to  certain  public  offices  is  made  upon  the  basis  of  com- 
petitive examination.  No  Senator  or  Representative  is  per- 
mitted to  make  recommendations  to  the  board,  and  no  officer 
can  be  removed  for  political  reasons.  A  system  of  promotions 
enables  competent  officials  to  advance  to  higher  places  on  merit. 

The  number  of  offices  covered  by  the  original  act  was  only 
fourteen  thousand;  the  number  now  comprised  is  more  than 
two  hundred  thousand.  The  list  has  been  extended  by  ex- 
ecutive orders  of  several  Presidents  of  different  parties,  from 
Arthur  and  Cleveland  to  Roosevelt,  Taft,  and  Wilson.  About 
four  fifths  of  all  the  national  officers  are  now  under  civil 
service  rules. 

The  "Spoils  System"  has  been  as  harmful  in  the  State  The"SpoUs 
as  in  the  nation  and  much  less  has  been  done  to  check  it.  states 
Appointive  offices  in  almost  all  of  the  States  are  still  filled 
largely  upon  a  political  basis.  The  distribution  of  the  offices 
is  sometimes  the  "burning"  question  in  the  campaign.  The 
tenure  of  office  is  thus  made  to  depend,  not  upon  efficiency, 
but  upon  service  rendered  to  the  "machine"  or  to  the  "boss." 

This  is  a  standard  of  service  which  no  intelligent  man  would 
tolerate  in  his  private  business.  Three  states  —  Massachusetts, 
New  York,  and  Wisconsin  —  have  passed  civil  service  laws  quite  ^''"  Sendee 
similar  to  the  national  law  above  referred  to.  These  acts  tend  states 
to  exclude  incompetent  politicians  from  service  and  to  give 
all  intelhgent  men,  whether  politicians  or  not,  an  opportunity 
to  serve  the  State.  They  also  make  the  term  of  office  depend, 
not  upon  political  activity,  but  upon  the  capable  administra- 
tion of  the  duties  of  the  office. 

The  merit  system  has  also,  fortunately,  found  its  way 
into  some  of  our  large  cities.  This  is  true  of  the  cities  of 
Massachusetts,  New  York,  and  Wisconsin,  as  well  as  of  many 


62 


THE   CITIZEN  AND  THE   REPUBLIC 


Poverty  and 
Crime 


Work  of 

Organized 

Charity 


cities  in  other  States,  such  as  Des  Moines,  Chicago,  and  New 
Orleans.  For  the  most  part,  however,  city  offices  are  still 
parcelled  out  in  return  for  political  services,  and  the  tax  payer 
is  left  to  bear  the  burden  of  inefficient  and  extravagant  muni- 
cipal government. 

Caring  for  Dependent  and  Criminal  Classes 

States  and  cities  are  constantly  trying  to  find  better  and 
more  economical  methods  of  caring  for  the  dependent  and 
criminal  classes.  A  generation  or  two  ago  little  or  no  attention 
was  given  by  public  officials  to  the  matter  of  poor-relief. 
Alms  were  dispensed  indiscriminately  by  public  officials, 
private  societies,  and  individuals.  No  questions  were  asked 
and  no  investigations  made.  In  many  cases  public  officials 
dispensed  aid  in  such  a  way  as  to  bolster  up  their  political 
fortunes.  The  results  were  deplorable,  and  a  hoard  of  con- 
firmed paupers  and  professional  beggars  sprang  up.  The 
children  of  these  people  became  familiar  from  infancy  with 
this  mode  of  living,  and,  coming  to  the  conclusion  that  the 
world  owed  them  a  living  without  any  effort  on  their  part, 
followed  in  the  footsteps  of  their  parents.  With  self-respect 
gone  there  was  no  hope  that  they  would  ever  become  self- 
supporting  citizens.  And  so  conditions  grew  worse  rather 
than  better. 

The  remedy  for  this  state  of  things  was  sought  in  Charity 
Organization  Societies  which  attempted  to  administer  relief 
along  scientific  lines.  Cases  are  thoroughly  investigated 
by  trained  workers,  and  relief  is  given  to  worthy  persons  but 
denied  to  impostors.  An  attempt  is  made  to  help  people  to 
help  themselves,  and  to  this  end  employment  is  found  for  them. 
Advice  and  encouragement  are  also  given.  After  a  time  the 
individual  or  family  again  becomes  self-supporting  and  their 
self-respect  has  been  maintained.  This  plan  also  prevents 
the  overlapping  process  whereby  an  impostor  might  obtain  aid 
from  several  different  sources  at  the  same  time,  while  deserving 


PRESENT  DAY  PROBLEMS   IN  A  DEMOCRACY       63 

persons  were  entirely  overlooked.  The  amount  of  money 
expended  for  charitable  purposes  in  the  United  States  is  a 
tremendous  sum,  mounting  up  into  the  hundreds  of  millions 
of  dollars.  Some  thought,  obviously,  should  be  given  to  the 
wise  expenditure  of  this  sum.  This  is  the  work  of  the  Charity 
Organization  Society.  Organized  charity,  while  doing  the 
work  more  thoroughly  than  before,  tends  also  to  lower  the 
total  cost. 

The  proper  and  effective  treatment  of  criminals  is  a  problem 
as  old  as  history  itself.     The  old  idea  was  one  of  vindictive   "^^^  Treatment 

of  Criminals 

punishment.  The  latter  idea  looks  to  the  reform  as  well  as 
the  punishment  of  the  offender.  While  we  still  feel  that  the 
way  of  the  transgressor  should  not  be  made  particularly 
smooth,  we  also  feel  that  the  effort  should  be  made  to  reform 
or  cure  the  young  offender,  that  is,  a  person  who  is  young  in 
years  or  new  to  crime.  On  this  account  reformatories  are 
wisely  separated  from  penitentiaries,  young  offenders  being 
sent  to  the  former  and  chronic  ones  to  the  latter.  Some 
reformatories,  such  as  that  at  Elmira,  New  York,  are,  to  some 
extent,  educational  institutions  where  trades  and  the  common 
branches  are  taught.  The  boy  is  taught  to  know  and  to  do 
something,  and  is  given  lessons  in  saving  and  in  thrift.  After 
his  discharge  some  association  takes  him  in  hand,  provides 
work  for  him,  and  sees  to  it  that  he  is  not  forever  branded 
as  an  ex-convict.  Society  has  been  exceedingly  heartless  in 
this  respect.  It  has  been  very  difl&cult  for  a  young  man  who 
has  fallen  to  get  a  new  start. 

The   indeterminate   sentence   and   parole   laws   have   been 
powerful  agencies  in  the  reformation  of  men.     Under  this  plan    '^^^ 

^       .         .  ^  r  1    r    •  •     1      Indeterminate 

a  man  convicted  of  crime  is  sentenced,  not  for  a  deiimte  period,  sentence 
but  for  an  indeterminate  one  of  not  less  than  two  and  not  more 
than  fourteen  years.  Any  time  after  the  expiration  of  two 
years  the  prisoner,  in  case  his  conduct  has  been  satisfactory, 
may  ask  to  be  released  on  parole.  If  released,  he  reports  at 
stated   intervals   to   the   authorities   and   his   release   finally 


64 


THE   CITIZEN   AND  THE   REPUBLIC 


Increase  of 
Crime 


Causes  of 
Crime 


becomes  permanent.  The  theory  of  the  plan  is  that  a  convict  is 
not  finally  released  until  he  is  considered  cured,  that  is,  until 
he  is  looked  upon  as  a  safe  man  to  have  his  liberty.  The 
plan,  on  the  whole,  has  worked  well;  only  a  small  percentage 
of  the  paroled  fall  back  into  their  evil  ways. 

The  fact  that  crime  in  the  United  States  does  not  seem  to 
be  decreasing  materially,  has  been  the  cause  of  some  uneasi- 
ness. Severe  penalties  have  been  tried  in  vain.  They  do  not 
deter  the  criminal  as  they  were  expected  to  do.  He  hopes  to 
escape  detection  or  punishment,  and  in  too  many  cases  he 
succeeds.  Under  our  imperfect  system  of  police  and  courts,  it 
is  far  easier  than  it  should  be  for  the  law-breaken  to  escape 
punishment.  It  is  also  easier  for  him  to  escape  in  this  country 
than  it  is  in  some  of  the  countries  of  Europe.  Since  it  is  the 
certainty,  rather  than  the  severity,  of  the  punishment  that 
deters  the  wrong-doer,  it  is  exceedingly  unfortunate  that  so 
many  go  scot-free. 

We  are  looking  more  deeply  into  causes  of  crime  now 
than  we  have  ever  done  before  and  are  coming  to  the  conclusion 
that  prevention  is  better  than  punishment.  Crime  is  due,  to 
a  large  extent,  to  evil  surroundings,  bad  company,  crowded 
tenements,  grinding  poverty,  evil  resorts  like  low  saloons 
and  gambling  places,  and  to  a  lack  of  employment,  as  well  as 
to  useless  luxury  and  excessive  wealth.  Reformers  are  now 
trying  to  remove  or  counteract  the  influences  leading  to  crime. 
This  work  is  fundamental  and  should  yield  good  results  in 
due  time.  In  some  parts  of  our  large  cities  the  buildings  in 
criminal  and  unsanitary  districts  are  being  demolished  to  give 
place  to  better  ones.  Environment  is  an  exceedingly  impor- 
tant factor  in  character  formation,  especially  in  one's  early 
years. 


Regulation  of  the  Liquor  Traffic 

One  of  the  notable  movements  having  for  its  purpose  the 
prevention  of  poverty  and  crime,  is  that  for  the  stricter  regu- 


PRESENT  DAY  PROBLEMS   IN  A  DEMOCRACY       65 

lation  of  the  manufacture  and  sale  of  intoxicating  liquors. 
This  has  been  carried  on  in  the  States  under  the  operation 
of  the  poHce  powers.  The  "police  powers"  of  the  State  do 
not  here  relate  merely  to  the  conduct  of  the  police  depart- 
ment, but  it  is  a  term  which  includes  all  the  broad  general 
power  of  government  to  protect  the  property  and  lives  of 
citizens,  to  regulate  their  conduct  and  to  safeguard  their 
health,  comfort,  and  peace.  Congress  exercises  very  little  of 
such  power,  as  in  preventing  piracy,  counterfeiting  and  dis- 
order within  national  property  or  territory. 

Not  only  the  regulation  but  the  prohibition  of  the  liquor 
traffic  has  been  held  to  be  justifiable  on  the  ground  that  "the 
public  welfare  is  the  highest  law"  and  that  the  morals, 
health,  and  safety  of  society  demand  the  public  control, 
if  not  the  suppression,  of  this  traffic.  Many  saloons  have 
been  unregulated  and  have  been  run  by  men  who  constantly 
violate  the  law.  They  have  become  a  resort  of  gamblers, 
criminals,  and  immoral  persons,  and  a  source  of  poHtical 
corruption.  Prohibition  workers  and  the  "Anti-Saloon 
League"  (an  organization  of  aUied  churches)  have  aroused  a 
strong  public  sentiment  demanding  the  suppression  of  such 
saloons  as  the  "breeding  places  of  vice  and  crime."  Twenty- 
four  States  are  now,  or  soon  are  to  be,  under  laws  pro- 
hibiting the  making  and  selling  of  intoxicating  liquors  except 
for  medicinal  and  mechanical  purposes.^  As  a  war  measure 
Congress  forbade  all  distillation  of  spirits  for  beverage  pur- 

1  The  States  in  the  order  of  their  adopting  prohibition  are  as  follows: 
Maine,  1851;  Kansas,  1880;  North  Dakota,  1889:  Georgia,  1907;  Ok- 
lahoma, 1907;  North  Carolina,  1908;  Mississippi,  1908;  Tennessee, 
1909;  West  Virginia,  1912;  Virginia,  1914;  Colorado,  1914;  Oregon, 
1914;  Washington,  1914;  Arizona,  1914;  Arkansas,  1915;  Alabama, 
1915;  Idaho,  1915;  Iowa,  1915;  Montana,  1916;  Nebraska,  1916; 
Utah,  1916;  Michigan,  1916;  Indiana,  1917.  An  amendment  to  the 
U  .  S.  constitution  has  been  passed  by  a  two-thirds'  vote  of  both  houses 
of  Congress  and  is  pending  (1918)  before  the  State  legislatures.  If  three- 
fourths  of  the  legislatures  approve  it,  prohibition  will  prevail  legally 
throughout  the  nation. 


Police  Powers 
of  the  State 


66 


THE  CITIZEN  AND  THE   REPUBLIC 


The  Webb- 
Kenyon  Act 
and 
Prohibition 


poses  during  the  war,  and  distilleries  (after  October  i,  1917) 
were  forced  to  close  down.  This  was  to  prevent  the  use  of 
grains  and  food  stuffs  for  making  whiskey. 

A  decision  of  the  Supreme  Court  has  been  handed  down 
(January,  191 7)  affirming  the  constitutionality  of  the  Wcbb- 
Kenyon  Act.  This  Act  provides  that  liquor  shall  not  be 
shipped  into  a  State  contrary  to  the  prohibition  law  of  that 
State.  The  State  has  the  undoubted  right  to  exercise  its 
police  power  to  suppress  the  liquor  traffic  within  its  bounds. 
It  was  held  that  this  power  interfered  with  the  right  of  Congress 
to  regulate  interstate  commerce.  It  seemed  the  two  rights 
were  in  conflict.  By  this  decision  the  Court  makes  the  police 
power  of  the  State  prevail  over  the  commerce-regulating  power 
of  Congress.  The  court  says:  "We  can  have  no  doubt  that 
Congress  has  complete  authority  to  prevent  the  paralyzing 
of  State  authority."  Before  this  the  nation  was  in  the  posi- 
tion of  cooperating  with  those  who  were  seeking  to  defeat 
the  efforts  of  the  States  to  banish  the  Hquor  traffic.  If  liquor 
dealers  were  allowed  to  ship  their  "wet  goods"  into  "dry" 
States,  the  police  regulations  of  the  States  would  be  thwarted 
or  defeated.  Only  a  few  of  the  prohibition  States  have  so 
far  forbidden  all  importation  of  liquors.  These  are  the 
"bone  dry"  States.  It  is  now  decided  they  may  all  do  so, 
as  they  hkely  will.  It  is  a  staggering  blow  to  the  Hquor  traffic. 
The  nation  should  go  further  and  actively  sustain  the  State 
authorities  in  their  efforts  to  enforce  their  liquor  laws.  The 
use  of  a  Federal  license  to  enable  one  to  sell  liquor  contrary 
to  the  laws  and  wishes  of  a  State  should  be  considered  an 
offense  against  the  Federal  Government,  as  much  so  as  "moon- 
shining."  The  nation  should  sustain  and  not  defeat  the 
State  law.  If  the  States  should  now  prohibit  the  shipment 
of  Hquors  to  "dry"  cities  and  counties  within  the  State, 
the  railroads  and  express  companies  would  have  to  obey 
and  the  local  "boot-leggers"  and  "blind  tigers"  could  be 
forced  out. 


PRESENT  DAY  PROBLEMS   IN  A  DEMOCRACY        ^J 


Pure  Food    sunshine 


PureW^ter 


Pure  Air 


Shelter 


Public  Health 
There  is  no  more  important  problem  before  the  public  than 
that  of  the  public  health,  and  probably  none  which  has  been 
longer  neglected.  It  is 
exceedingly  difficult  to 
arouse  a  community  to 
the  importance  of  pro- 
tecting itself  against  dis- 
ease. People  receive  their 
daily  milk  supply  without 
thinking  very  seriously 
about  the  sanitary  condi- 
tions of  the  dairy  from 
which  it  comes.  The 
same  is  true  of  ice,  meat, 
and  other  household  sup- 
plies. The  people  are 
now,  however,  waking  up 
to  the  supreme  impor- 
tance of  these  matters. 
State  boards  of  health 
and  voluntary  organiza- 
tions, like  the  Society 
for  the  Study  and  Pre- 
vention of  Tuberculosis, 
are  also  doing  a  valuable 
work  in  serving  public 
health.      The    time    will 

come,  if  it  has  not  come  already,  when  prevention  of  disease  will 
be  considered  the  most  important  branch  of  medical  science. 

Immigration 
Since  1787  we  have  received  into  this  country  fully  thirty 
millions  of  people  from  foreign  countries.     In  recent  years 
immigrants  have  come  at  the  rate  of  more  than  a  million  a 


Reach  for  these  five  necessities 
with  clean  hand  and  clear  head 
OMan!  and  if  need  be  clinch 
your  fist  and  fi^ht  for  them. 


A  Health  Message  to  The  People 

A  card  issued  by  the  Chicago  Depart- 
ment of  Health.  The  people  must  now 
provide  these  essential  needs  of  life 
through  the  agencies  of  government. 


68 


THE   CITIZEN   AND  THE   REPUBLIC 


year.  The  problem  has  been  to  take  in  these  people  from 
foreign  lands,  many  of  them  speaking  a  different  language,  most 
of  them  of  different  modes  of  life  from  our  own,  to  assimilate 
them,  and  make  them  true  and  patriotic  American  citizens. 

"The  migration  or  importation  of  such  persons  as  any 
of  the  States  shall  think  proper  to  admit"  was  not  to  be  inter- 
fered with  by  Congress  prior  to  1808.^  Since  that  date  Con- 
gress has  had  full  control  of  immigration.     The  problem  has 


A  Diagram  Showing  the  Line  of  Increase  or  Decline  of 
Immigration  Since  i860 


been  a  subject  of  controversy  for  over  a  hundred  years.  There 
was  an  anti-alien  movement  in  179S,  when  the  notorious  Alien 
Law  was  passed.  The  Nativist  Movement  and  the  "Know- 
nothing"  Movement  in  the  middle  of  the  last  century  are 
other  illustrations.  Generally  our  policy  has  been  one  of 
liberality  and  hospitality  toward  the  immigrants,  keeping 
"  the  latch-string  out,"  or  an  open  door  to  all  comers.     America 

1  Constitution,  Art.  I,  Sec.  9.  This  section  of  the  Constitution 
applied  chiefly  to  the  foreign  slave  trade,  but  immigration  was  also 
included. 


PRESENT  DAY  PROBLEMS   IN  A  DEMOCRACY       69 

is  looked  upon  as  a  land  of  freedom,  an  asylum  for  the  poor 
and  oppressed  of  other  lands,  as  "another  name  for  oppor- 
tunity," where  all  may  come,  however  poor,  and  find  a 
chance  to  get  on  in  the  world.     All  the  people  who  ever  came   America 

.  .  Liberal 

to  America  (except  the  slaves)  were  immigrants  and  nearly   toward 
all  came  for  the  same  reason,  —  namely,  to  better  their  con-   in^migrants 
dition  in  life  and  to  give  their  children  a  better  opportunity 
than  their  parents  had.     The  descendants  of  the  early  comers 
have  been  disposed  to  be  generous  toward  the  later  comers. 


800000 
600000 


41 441 44mi« 


1915      I9I6 


Chart  of  Immigration  for  Ten  Years  from  1907 
The  effect  of  the  war  is  seen. 

Immigration  increases  in  prosperous  times  and  decreases 
in  hard  times,  which  shows  that  it  is  controlled  by  economic 
and  industrial  forces,  if  left  unregulated  by  statute  law.  In 
1864,  in  harmony  with  our  liberal  policy,  Congress  organized 
a  bureau  to  encourage  and  safeguard  immigration.  It  was  not 
until  1882  that  restrictions  began.  In  that  year  Congress 
passed  the  Chinese  Exclusion  Act  and  provided  for  the  inspec- 
tion of  immigrants  and  for  the  deportation  of  the  undesirables, 
—  the  idiots,  the  insane,  convicts,  and  paupers  liable  to  become 
a  public  charge.  All  these  were  to  be  sent  back  at  the  expense 
of  the  steamship  company  bringing  them  over.  In  1885  the 
Alien  Contract  Labor  Law  was  passed  by  Congress  to  prohibit 
corporations  from  bringing  over  laborers  under  contract. 
The  Immigration  Act  of  1910  provided  a  head  tax  of  four  dol- 
lars upon  every  immigrant,  and  it  forbade  the  admission 
(in  addition  to  the  classes  already  mentioned)  of  epileptics, 
persons  suffering  from  tuberculosis  or  other  dangerous  con- 


The 

Immigration 

Bureau : 

Restrictions 

on 

Immigration 


70 


THE   CITIZEN   AND  THE   REPUBLIC 


Demand  for 
Greater 
Restrictions : 
Objections  to 
Unrestricted 
Immigration 


tagious  diseases,  polygamists,  anarchists,  immoral  women, 
children  under  sixteen  unaccompanied  by  their  parents,  and 
all  Chinese,  except  Chinese  students,  merchants,  professional 
men,  and  employes  of  exhibits  or  expositions. 

These  provisions  are  sanitary  measures  designed  to  pro- 
tect the  country  from  crime  and  disease,  or  to  prevent  the 
lowering  of  the  standard  of  living  among  American  laboring 
men,  or  to  prevent  the  coming  of  a  class  of  people  deemed  in- 
capable of  assimilation,  like  the  Chinese.  A  medical  exami- 
nation is  made  of  all  aliens  at  the  port  of  arrival,  the  cost  being 
paid  for  by  the  head  tax  of  four  dollars,  which  goes  to  the 
"Immigration  Fund."  Less  than  one  and  a  half  per  cent 
of  the  immigrants  examined  are  rejected  and  returned.  If 
an  immigrant  is  denied  admission  he  may  appeal  to  a  board 
of  inquiry.  If  this  board  decides  against  him  he  may  ap- 
peal to  the  General  Commissioner  of  Immigration. 

Within  the  last  quarter  of  a  century  there  has  been  a  rising 
demand  for  more  effective  restriction  on  immigration.  Three 
restrictive  acts  have  been  passed  in  Congress  and  have  been 
vetoed  by  three  successive  Presidents.^  In  February,  191 7, 
the  Burnett  Immigration  Bill  was  passed  by  Congress  over 
President  Wilson's  veto.  This  act  strengthens  and  extends 
the  exclusion  of  aliens.  It  increases  the  head  tax  from  $4.00 
to  $8.00;  it  imposes  heavier  penalties  on  steamship  com- 
panies for  bringing  to  America  persons  whom  the  law  seeks 
to  exclude;  its  provisions  are  more  rigid  as  to  contract  labor; 
and  it  imposes  the  "literacy  test"  which  requires  all  im- 
migrants over  16  years  of  age  (not  blind  or  dumb)  to  be 
able  to  read  in  some  language.  This  is  the  provision  which 
makes  large  exclusions  easy.  This  seems  like  a  penalty 
imposed  on  the  immigrant,  not  for  any  fault  but  for  lack  of 
opportunity,  in  the  country  from  which  he  came.  The 
reading  tests  are  to  be  taken  from  the  Bible,  as  the  only  book 
which  is  printed  in  virtually  every  tongue  on  earth. 
1  Cleveland  in  1897,  Taft  in  1913,  and  Wilson  in  1915. 


PRESENT  DAY  PROBLEMS   IN  A    DEMOCRACY        71 


72 


THE  CITIZEN  AND  THE   REPUBLIC 


Reasons  for 
Restricting 
Immigration 


Benefits  of 
Immigration 


There  have  been  three  reasons  for  demanding  restriction: 

1.  The  desire  to  protect  the  labor  market  from  being  over- 
crowded. Organizations  of  labor  have  been  urging  restric- 
tion to  save  them  from  hard  competition.  Most  of  the 
immigrants  are  unskilled  laborers  who  crowd  into  city  oc- 
cupations, or  crowd  the  ranks  of  common  labor  in  manufac- 
turing, mining,  building,  with  disastrous  effect  on  American 
unskilled  labor.  Very  few  of  them  go  to  the  farms.  It 
is  charged  that  their  coming  is  due  largely  to  the  .activity 
of  ship  companies  and  their  ticket  agents,  who  solicit  and 
induce  ahens  to  come  to  America  under  false  representa- 
tions of  high  wages  and  prosperity,  while  the  large  factory 
owners  make  use  of  them,  after  they  are  here,  to  bring  down 
the  price  of  labor. 

2.  The  great  increase  of  immigration  in  recent  years.  A 
million  or  more  of  new  immigrants  every  year  are  more  than 
we  can  reasonably  be  expected  to  assimilate  and  train  for  citi- 
zenship. When  our  land  was  unsettled  we  had  need  of  and 
plenty  of  room  for  the  immigrants;  the  restrictionists  say  we  do 
not  need  them  now  when  the  pressure  of  population  has  begun 
to  be  felt. 

3.  The  change  in  the  character  of  the  immigration.  For- 
merly the  immigrants  came  from  Germany,  England,  Ireland, 
Scandinavia,  and  the  north  of  Europe.  Now  over  eighty 
per  cent  of  the  immigrants  come  from  southern  and  eastern 
Europe  or  western  Asia,  —  Italians,  Greeks,  Slavs,  Russian 
Jews,  Hungarians,  Slovaks,  Hunyaks,  Poles,  Croatians, 
and  others  not  alhed  to  us  in  race  or  stock  or  language.  This 
tends  to  make  our  people  heterogeneous  and  conglomerate, 
without  the  national  unity  that  came  with  the  original  and 
more  voluntary  settlers  of  earlier  years. 

On  the  other  hand  our  country  has  received  great  benefits 
from  immigration.  The  sturdy  immigrants  have  helped 
to  build  and  develop  America.  Without  their  labor  the  work 
could  not  have  been  done.     They  have  been  a  source  of  great 


PRESENT  DAY  PROBLEMS   IN  A  DEMOCRACY        73 

wealth  to  the  country.  It  has  been  estimated  that  the  cost 
of  rearing  a  child  in  the  United  States  is  fully  $1200.  That 
expense  has  been  met  in  the  case  of  nearly  every  immigrant 
by  the  land  of  his  birth.  The  great  bulk  of  our  immigrants 
are  between  fourteen  and  forty-five  years  of  age,  —  within 
the  years  of  greatest  industrial  productivity.  The  labor  of 
the  more  than  ten  million  foreign  born  who  were  in  America  in 
1910  has  added  fully  $600,000,000  yearly  to  the  wealth  of 
this  country.  These  immigrants  are  engaged  in  doing  the 
heavy  and  dangerous  work  of  the  country, — in  mines,  sewers, 
ditches,  buildings,  and  road  construction  and  factories. 

The  Great  War  and  the  need  of  national  unity  have  im- 
pressed upon  America  the  necessity  of  Americanizing  the 
immigrant.  New  organizations  now  have  this  for  their  pur- 
pose, to  require  the  children  of  immigrants  to  attend  the  public 
schools,  to  provide  night  schools  for  the  adults,  to  require  them 
all  to  learn  the  English  language,  and  to  understand  something 
of  our  principles  of  government  and  the  duties  of  citizenship. 

Some  of  these  problems  have  been  before  the  people  for  Civic  Problems 
many  years.  Some  of  them  may  continue  for  years  to  come,  0°  citizenship 
while  others  of  them  will  become  "  dead  issues."  Other 
problems  will  arise,  or  appear  as  old  problems  in  new  forms. 
The  way  they  will  all  be  met  and  solved  will  depend  upon 
the  intelligence,  the  pubUc  spirit,  and  the  leadership  of  the 
people.  There  will  be  differences  of  opinion,  but  if  dis- 
cussion is  free;  if  our  poUtical  leaders  are  capable,  upright, 
and  outspoken;  if  the  voters  are  uncorrupted  and  their 
citizenship  is  marked  by  honesty  and  integrity;  and  if  voters 
and  leaders  are  resolved  to  act  in  the  public  interest  and 
not  for  private  ends,  then  no  problem  will  prove  too  serious 
for  solution  and  the  Republic  will  be  safeguarded  against  any 
danger  that  may  threaten. 


74  THE   CITIZEN   AND  THE   REPUBLIC 

TOPICS   AND    QUERIES 

1.  Explain  how  government  is  an  "experimental  science."     What  other 

ways  are  there   to  learn  to  govern  except  by  "trying  out"  ex- 
periments? 

2.  Show  the  growth  of  democracy  in  the  governmental  changes  of  the 

last  hundred  years. 

3.  How   have    industrial    and    social   changes   brought   about   govern- 

mental changes  in  American  history? 

4.  Debate:    (1)   "Resolved  that  the  Initiative  and  Referendum  should 

be  adopted  in  the  States." 

(2)  "Resolved,    that    the    evils    of    the    primary    election 

system  are  greater  than  its  benefits." 

(3)  "Resolved,    that   the   license   system   is   preferable   to 

prohibition  as  a  solution  of  the  liquor  problem." 

(4)  "Resolved,  that  we  need  in  America  more  individual 

liberty  rather  than  more  government." 

(5)  "Resolved  that  immigration  should  be  restricted  by 

a  literacy  test. 

(6)  "Resolved  that  there  should  be  an  educational  qualifi- 

cation for  suffrage." 

5.  Hold  a  mock  class  election  under  preferential  voting. 

6.  Why  is  economic  independence  (an  occupation,  a  fair  living,  some 

property)  essential  to  good  citizenship? 

7.  Will  the  Primary  System   tend  to  strengthen  or  weaken  the  party? 

Why? 

8.  What  is  the  defense  for  the  "  Spoils  System?  " 

9.  What  would  be  the  population  of  your  State  if  it  were  as  thickly 

populated  as  Belgium  or  Holland? 

REFERENCES 

Barnett,  James  G.  Operation  of  the  Initiative  and  Referendum  in  Oregon. 

Brooks,  Robert  C.    Corruption  in  American  Politics. 

Brown,  Rome  G.  The  Judicial  Recall  (Opposed)  Senate  Document, 
August  3,  1912. 

Clark,  Charles  C.  P.  The  Machine  Abolished  (Proposing  radical 
changes  in  methods  of  popular  elections). 

Croly,  Herbert.  The  Promise  of  American  Life,  pp.  100-126,  "Con- 
temporary Situation";  148-175,  "Logic  of  Reform,  Bryan  and 
Roosevelt  as  Reformers." 

Direct  Primary  Experiment,  Atlantic  Monthly,  July,  1912. 

Evans,  E.  C.  "A  History  of  the  Australian  Ballot  System  in  the  U.  S." 
(Univ.  o':  Chicago  Press  191 7.      Good  Bibliography). 

Fuller,  Robe/t  H.  Government  by  the  People.  Chaps.  IV,  V,  X,  "Experi- 
ment and  Reform." 


PRESENT  DAY  PROBLEMS   IN  DEMOCRACY  75 

Initiative,    Referendum,  and  Recall,  by  Jonathan  Bourne,  in   Atlantic 

Monthly,  191 2. 
Merriam,  Charles  E.    Primary  Elections. 
Meyer,  Ernst  C.    Nominating  Systems. 
Poindexter,  Senator  Miles.     Recall     of     Judges,      Senate      Document, 

No.  472,  March  28,  191 2. 
Popular  vs.  Delegated  Government,  speech  by  Senator  Bourne,  of  Oregon, 

in  United  States  Senate,  May  5,  1910. 
Ransom,  W.  L.    Majority  Rule  and  the  Judiciary. 
Ray,  P.  O.    An  Lntroduction  to  Political  Parties  and  Practical  Politics, 

pp.  103-121,  "Direct  Primary";  273-332  "Spoils  System,"  and  "Civil 

Service  Reform."     See  references   to  Periodical  Literature  in  this 

volume. 
Right    of  the    People   to    Rule.      Address    by    ex-President    Roosevelt, 

Carnegie  Hall,  New  York,  March  20,   191 2.     Senate  Documents, 

No.  473. 
The  Direct  Primary:    Promise  and  Performance,  A.  W.  Dunn  in  Review 

of  Reviews,  October,  191 2. 
The    Right    of    the    People    to     Review    Judge-made    Law,     Theodore 

Roosevelt,  Outlook,  August  8,  1914. 
Veto  Message  of  President  Taft  on  the  Admission  of  Arizona,  August  15, 

191 2,  House  Documents,  No.  106. 
What   the    Direct    Primary    Did  for    California,    McClure's    Magazine, 

February,  19 12. 
Wilcox,  Delos  F.   Government  by   All  the   People.     Full   and   favorable 

treatment  of  Initiative,  Referendum,  Recall. 
See  the  Reader's  Guide  to  Periodical  Literature  for  numerous  citations 

to  magazine  articles  on  the  topics  of  this  and  other  chapters. 


The  Problem  of 
Government's 
Growing 
Business  In 
State  and 
Nation 


Early  Notion 
of  Government 


CHAPTER   III 
THE  ENLARGING  POWERS   OF   GOVERNMENT 

Government  Activities  Change  with  Changing  Conditions 

As  time  goes  on  we  find  that  government  is  attempting  to  do 
more  and  more  for  the  people.  If  anything  is  needed  the 
people  seek  to  obtain  it  through  the  agencies  of  government.  If 
anything  goes  wrong  the  people  want  some  law  to  remedy  it. 
They  are  demanding  larger  and  larger  activity  on  the  part  of 
government.  This  is  a  natural  tendency  in  our  complex  indus- 
trial society  where  so  many  interests  are  interrelated  and  where 
the  interests  and  conflicts  of  classes  have  to  be  reconciled. 

The  ideas  that  prevailed  about  government  in  the  early  days 
of  our  republic  were  quite  different.  Jefferson  spoke  of  gov- 
ernment as  a  "necessary  evil"  and  he  said  that  "the  govern- 
ment is  best  which  governs  least."  His  idea  was  that  the  chief 
end  of  government  should  be  to  protect  society  from  crime  and 
to  secure  the  citizen  in  his  enjoyment  of  life,  liberty,  and  prop- 
erty. Jefferson  thought  the  State  could  best  perform  this 
function.  The  central  government,  he  thought,  should  be 
almost  entirely  a  government  for  foreign  affairs,  to  protect  the 
States  from  foreign  invasion  or  aggression,  while  also  pro- 
viding a  few  common  services,  like  coining  money  and  fur- 
nishing postal  services  which  the  people  could  not  so  well 
attend  to  for  themselves.  Jefferson  had  some  doubt  as  to  the 
propriety  of  a  National  Post  Office,  thinking  it  might  be  better 
to  leave  the  carriage  of  letters  to  private  enterprise.  The 
thought  was  that  the  more  government  kept  hands  off  and  let 
the  people  alone  the  better  for  all  concerned.  Let  people  do 
things  for  themselves,  in  their  own  way,  as  individuals  and 

76 


THE   ENLARGING   POWERS  OF  GOVERNMENT         77 

as  neighborhoods.  "Sumptuary  legislation"  was  a  fearful 
bogie  —  i.e.  laws  regulating  what  people  consumed,  what  they 
ate  or  drank,  or  what  kind  of  air  they  breathed  or  how  they 
found  their  amusements  or  what  kind  of  clothes  they  wore  or 
how  these  clothes  were  made,  or  how  people  slept  and  Hved. 
It  was  thought  that  laws  and  government  should  have  nothing 
to  do  with  such  things.  The  people  would  know  "when  to  sow 
and  when  to  reap,"  and  how  to  build  houses  and  roads  and  make 
their  own  clothes  and  establish  schools  and  manage  their 
own  affairs  in  their  own  local  communities.  If  the  people  were 
left  alone  to  go  their  own  way  they  would  go  right  and  get  on 
peaceably  with  one  another. 

This  was  an  optimistic  philosophy  for  a  simple  primitive  age 
of  individualism,  and  it  was  well  adapted  to  a  time  when  the 
States  and  settlements  were  isolated  from  one  another  and  each 
was  sufficient  for  its  own  needs.  From  the  time  a  thing  was  Early 
produced  until  it  was  consumed,  from  the  birth  of  a  citizen  to  his  co°n^^ong 
death,  all  the  business,  the  social,  the  political  life  of  each  sepa- 
rate community  began  and  ended  within  the  limits  of  the  State 
itself.  Travel  and  communication  were  difficult;  a  journey 
from  Boston  to  Philadelphia  was  a  long  and  laborious  undertak- 
ing; ^  the  mails  were  slow;  transporting  goods  was  costly,  and 
the  activities  of  the  people  were  almost  entirely  within  their 
own  States  and  neighborhood.  When  the  men  of  1787  were 
forming  a  Union  and  setting  up  governments  their  imaginations 
did  not  bring  within  the  scope  of  their  dreams  a  nation  of  more 
than  100,000,000  people  reaching  over  a  vast  continent  from  sea 
to  sea. 

Now  the  growth  of  the  national  spirit,  more  than  a  century 
of  free  trade  among  the  States,  the  marvelous  increase  in  facili-  National  Unity 
ties  of  travel  and  communication,  changes  in  city  and  industrial  1°^,^  ^^^^ 
life, — -all  these  have  brought  about  entirely  different  conditions,   industrial 
Our  social  problems  are  not  so  simple,  our  lives  are  more  inter- 

*  Read  Franklin's  Autobiography  to  see  how  he  made  this  journey  in  the 
early  part  of  the  eighteenth  century. 


Conditions 


7«  THE  CITIZEN   AND  THE   REPUBLIC 

related;  all  states,  sections,  and  neighborhoods  arc  dependent 
on  one  another  and  are  welded  into  a  single  nation.  So  our  ideas 
of  the  functions  of  government  have  entirely  changed,  or  if  our 
ideas  have  not  changed  our  practices  certainly  have.  For 
the  doctrine  that  "  the  Government  must  do  nothing  but  govern  " 
we  have  substituted  the  idea  that  the  people  may  do  many 
things  for  themselves  by  means  of  their  government  better 
than  they  are  likely  to  be  done  for  them  by  private  enter- 
prise. Now  the  Government  has  become  a  great  builder  of 
pubhc  works;  a  great  financial  agency;  a  great  educational 
institution;  a  great  benevolent  institution;  a  great  adminis- 
trator of  public  utilities;  a  great  protector  of  public  rights 
and  property. 

New  Activities  in  Government 

It  would  be  impossible  to  print  here  any  adequate  list  of  the 
new  things  our  governments.  State  and  national,  are  now 
doing  for  the  people,  or  rather  what  the  people  are  now  doing 
for  themselves  by  means  of  their  governments.  But  let  us 
look  at  a  few  of  these  activities.  Let  us  consider  first  the 
Postal  Department: 

New  Activities  in  the  Postal  Department 

Rural  free  delivery  brings  the  farmer's  mail  to  his  home;  now 
he  may  get  the  daily  paper  telling  him  of  the  latest  news  and 
the  market  prices,  though  he  may  live  several  miles  from  a 
post  office.  The  parcels  post  service  will  carry  the  farmer's 
produce  to  town  for  a  pittance  and  bring  him  packages  from 
the  city  store;  and  the  postman  becomes  a  real  Santa  Glaus 
at  Christmas  time  in  all  the  cities  and  throughout  the 
countryside. 

Postal  Savings  Banks  (authorized  in  1910)  within  every 
village  and  town  will  receive  and  safeguard  the  pennies  and 
dimes  and  dollars  of  all  who  wish  to  save,  and  the  Govern- 
jjient  will  pay  interest  upon  their  savings.     This  encourages 


THE  ENLARGING  POWERS  OF  GOVERNMENT 


79 


thrift  and  economy;  and,  since  people  trust  "Uncle  Sam" 
more  than  they  do  private  savings  banks,  the  postal  savings 
help  to  bring  money  out  of  hiding  and  put  it  into  circulation. 
Since  the  Government  places  this  money  in  banks  under  ample 
security  and  the  banks  are  able  to  lend  it  for  all  kinds  of  worthy 
enterprises,  the  Government  thus  encourages  business  and  in- 
dustry. 

By  the  Money  Order  Service  for  anyone  who  wishes  to  send 
money  to  any  part  of  the  country,  the  Government  will  receive 
money  at  one  post  office  and  pay  it  out  at  another. 

So  we  see  the  Post  Office  not  only  carries  our  letters  but  acts 
as  an  express  company  and  as  a  bank  for  savings  and  exchange. 

New  Activities  in  the  Agricultural  Department 

The  Weather  Bureau  gives  forecasts  of  the  weather,  giving 
warning  of  cold  waves  and  heat,  of  frosts,  rain,  thunder,  and 
storms.  In  the  period  of  spring  floods  it  saves  thousands  of 
dollars  to  the  people  by  its  warnings. 

The  Bureau  of  Animal  Industry  seeks  to  save  and  improve 
the  domestic  animals  of  the  country.  It  is  government  sci- 
ence and  government  agencies  that  stamp  out  the  hoof-and- 
mouth  disease  among  cattle,  the  cholera  among  hogs,  and 
diseases  among  horses.  This  Government  Bureau  inspects 
the  meats  and  food  supply  of  the  people  and  safeguards  their 
interests  in  many  ways. 

The  Bureau  of  Plant  Industry  takes  care  of  the  forests  and 
public  lands  and  pubHshes  all  kinds  of  useful  information  on 
plant  life  in  relation  to  agriculture.  It  supplies  money  to 
every  State  for  an  Agricultural  College,  for  Experiment  Stations, 
and  it  establishes  Demonstration  Farms  where  agriculture 
is  taught  and  experiments  are  made  which  lead  to  improve- 
ment and  progress  in  soil  culture,  crop  increases,  and  in  all 
manner  of  plant  and  vegetable  culture.  The  Government  is 
helping  the  farmers  by  sending  out  crop  bulletins;  by  aid  in 
locating  their  wells;    by  information  on  farm  architecture  for 


Weather 
Bureau 


Bureau  of 
Animal  In- 
dustry 


Bureau  of 

Plant 

Industry 


8o  THE   CITIZEN    AND  THE    REPUBLIC 

building  their  l)arns  and  houses;    and  l)y  pointing  out  ways 
of  taking  care  of  their  farming  machinery. 

The  Government  through  this  department  will  help  fruit 
growers  to  get  their  crops  to  European  and  Asiatic  markets 
by  pointing  out  better  methods  of  preservation  through 
refrigeration,  packing,  and  handling.  It  helps  hop-growers 
by  importing  varieties  that  ripen,  some  earlier,  some  later,  thus 
lengthening  the  harvest  season  for  hops  and  barley.  It  helps 
protect  the  cotton  crop  by  preventing  the  root  rot,  the  boll- 
worm,  and  the  boll  weevil. 

The  Reclamation  Bureau  is  building  vast  reservoirs,  canals, 
dams,  and  irrigating  structures,  in  order  that  arid  and  waste 
regions  may  be  brought  under  cultivation.  By  Irrigation 
and  Drainage  Investigation,  carried  on  in  a  score  of  States, 
millions  of  acres  of  land  are  being  reclaimed  that  had  been 
rendered  useless  l^y  alkali  and  similar  mineral  elements. 

The  Department  of  Agriculture  is  not  only  aiding  production 
in  the  field,  but  it  is  helping  to  economize  and  regulate  con- 
Home  sumption  in  the  house.  Domestic  Science  and  Home  Economics 
fall  within  the  new  sphere  of  government.  Housewives  may  re- 
ceive from  the  Government  recipes  for  cooking  and  canning 
and  scientific  and  helpful  information  for  the  better  regulation 
of  the  household.  Many  a  farmer's  wife  owes  her  vocational 
training  to  the  Agricultural  Department  of  the  United  States 
Government.  The  Government  Bulletins  have  been  the  text- 
books. These  bulletins  are  in  constant  use  in  the  household. 
Housewives  may  also  rejoice  that  the  newly  organized  Office 
of  Markets  is  undertaking  to  systematize  the  handling  of 
farm  products  "to  lower  the  retail  price  of  everything  from 
potatoes  to  cherries."  ^  So  the  Government  is  coming  into 
the  home,  not  merely  to  tax,  or  to  interfere  and  annoy,  but 

1  The  Superintendent  of  Documents  publishes  a  monthly  catalogue 
listing  all  publications  of  all  departments  and  bureaus  of  the  Govern- 
ment. See  an  article  in  the  Survey  for  December,  1915,  on  "Washington 
at  Work,"  by  Dr.  Graham  Taylor. 


Scientists  at  Work  in  the  Dairy  Laboratory,  U.  S.  Department  of 

Agriculture 


Children  Working  in  a  Cannery 


Emplo\'ees'  Dining  Room  in  an  Industrial  Establishment 


ChUd  Welfare 


THE  ENLARGING  POWERS  OF  GOVERNMENT    8 1 

to  help  in  providing  good  food,  good  cooking,  good  health, 
and  to  promote  efficiency  and  economy. 

The  new  Bureau  of  Child  Welfare  is  giving  forth  enlighten- 
ment in  community  institutes  for  the  care  of  children,  seek- 
ing safe  conditions  for  their  employment,  giving  medical  Bureau  of 
examinations  to  children  and  advice  to  the  mothers,  and 
guarding  the  household  against  accident  and  disease.  If 
her  child  is  saved  from  a  fatal  diphtheria  the  mother  may  be 
thankful  that  the  antitoxin  used  by  the  doctor  was  guaranteed 
by  the  Government. 

So  we  see  the  Department  of  Agriculture  has  grown  into 
a  great  educational  institution,  with  a  body  of  more  than  two 
thousand  trained  scientists  and  specialists  and  technical 
engineers  carrying  on  investigations  and  enterprises  for  the 
people.  They  search  throughout  the  world  for  all  kinds  of 
new  seeds,  grains,  fruits,  grasses,  vegetables,  trees,  and  shrubs, 
suitable  to  be  raised  and  marketed  in  this  country.  In  i860 
President  Buchanan  vetoed  a  bill  to  appropriate  land  and 
money  to  encourage  the  States  to  establish  Agricultural  Col- 
leges, and  another  for  removing  obstructions  to  navigation 
at  the  mouth  of  the  Mississippi  River,  both  vetoes  being  based 
on  the  ground  that  the  Federal  Government  was  limited  and 
could  use  Federal  money  only  for  Federal  purposes.  How 
far  away  this  "old  States  rights  school  "  of  thought  about 
national  functions  seems  to  us  in  these  days!  Now,  as  we 
have  seen,  the  national  Government  is  promoting  multi- 
plied educational  agencies  and  has  become  a  great  builder  of 
public  works,  —  of  a  railroad  in  Alaska,  a  canal  at  Panama, 
and  irrigation  and  reclamation  projects  of   the  widest   scope. 

New  Activities  in  Other  Departments 

Other  departments  of  the  Government  are  promoting 
similar  benefits  and  enterprises  for  the  people. 

In  the  field  of  education  we  have  witnessed  a  similar  advance 
and  revolution.     Before  the  Civil  War  in  one  half  the  country 


THE   CITIZEN   AND  THE   REPUBLIC 


Education 


New  National 
Commissions 


there  were  no  public  schools  and  in  the  other  half  they  had 
still  to  be  defended  on  the  ground  that  they  were  a  cheap 
means  of  protecting  the  community  against  crime.  "Now  we 
act  on  the  theory  that  the  children  in  the  State  are  the  children 
of  the  State  and  that  it  is  the  duty  of  the  State  to  provide  for 
all  these  children  not  only  protection  but  opportunity  for 
education  and  improvement."  ^ 

The  War  Department  is  projecting  plans  for  opening  up  the 
coal  fields  of  Alaska  and  conserving  its  other  natural  resources. 
The  Interior  Department  administers  a  vast  business  in  Pen- 
sions and  Patents  and  Lands;  a  Geological  and  Topographical 
Survey  gives  information  on  mineral  resources  and  products, 
and,  in  connection  with  its  Bureau  of  Mines,  investigates  mine 
accidents  and  seeks  to  prevent  them.  The  Department  of 
Commerce  exercises  large  and  growing  powers  over  the  trade 
of  the  country  (see  p.  319),  and  the  Department  of  Labor 
has  established,  among  other  agencies  for  the  betterment  of 
labor,  a  National  Employment  Bureau  by  which  from  Washing- 
ton, without  fee  or  charge,  an  employer  who  is  in  need  of  a 
man  and  a  man  who  is  in  need  of  a  job  may  look  to  the  Gov- 
ernment for  help.  This  Bureau  uses  the  facilities  of  the  Post 
Office  Department  and  the  Agricultural  Department. 

This  is  only  a  partial  list  of  the  new  activities  of  government 
that  have  come  into  operation  within  the  last  generation,  which 
Congress  has  authorized  and  for  which  it  has  appropriated 
money.  Congress  has  also  created  a  number  of  important 
commissions  authorized  to  exercise  large  governmental  powers. 

The  Lnterstate  Commerce  Commission  has  tremendous 
powers  over  the  railroads  and  the  conditions  and  means  of 
commerce  among  the  States.- 

The  Currency  Commission  may   regulate   the  currency  of 

the  country  and  it  may  inflate   or  contract  or  control   the 

currency  at  will. 

'  Lyman  Abbott,  "  Reminiscences,"  Outlook,  June  23,  1915. 
2  During  the  period  of  the  Great  War  the  Government  has  taken  con- 
trol of  the  Railroads. 


THE  ENLARGING  POWERS  OF  GOVERNMENT 


83 


The  Trade  Commission  may  inquire  into  what  is  fair  or 
unfair  in  trade  competition  and  may  investigate  trade  and 
industrial  difficulties  and  make  decisions  which  may  be  re- 
viewed and  reversed  only  by  the  Federal  Courts.  A  Tariff 
Commission  and  a  commission  with  a  control  over  power  sites 
are  now  proposed  and  supported  by  powerful  interests  and 
much  public  sentiment. 


Government  Regulation  for  Public  Welfare 

Public  regulation  has  increased  in  all  fields  in  order  to  pro- 
tect, preserve,  and  promote  the  public  welfare.  Government 
has  become  a  partner  in  many  lines  of  business  and  has  under- 
taken to  protect  people  in  many  ways  formerly  not  thought 
to  be  necessary: 

I.  The  people  must  be  protected  against  monopolies.  For 
centuries  English  and  American  law  had  regarded  monopolies 
as  an  evil  to  be  prevented.  ^  "  Competition  is  the  life  of 
trade."  This  maxim  was  thought  to  be  sound  and  it  was 
thought  that  the  freedom  of  competition  must  be  preserved. 
The  small  producers  of  goods  essential  to  the  people  were 
being  crowded  out  by  the  big  producers;  the  big  fish  were 
eating  up  the  little  fish.  Large  combinations  (Trusts)  were 
formed  among  the  larger  manufacturers  and  business  men  to 
control  the  output  and  prices  in  many  important  products,  — 
oil,  sugar,  lumber,  binding  twine,  salt,  steel,  meat,  etc. 
As  a  consequence  Anti-trust  laws  have  been  demanded  either 
to  regulate  competition  by  preventing  dishonest  customs, 
"business  piracy"  and  "cut-throat  methods,"  or  to  restore 
competition  by  dissolving  "big  business"  and  protecting  men 
in  small  business  from  being  crushed  or  driven  out  by  a  giant 

^  Copyrights  and  patents  were  authorized  as  a  rightful  means  of 
giving  an  author  or  an  inventor  a  monopoly  ownership  and  control 
for  a  period  of  time  of  the  product  of  his  brain  and  genius,  after  which 
period  the  result  of  the  work  of  the  author  and  inventor  should  accrue 
to  the  benefit  of  society. 


New  Powers  of 
Restraint  in 
Government 
for  the  People's 
Protection 


Monopolies 
and  Anti- 
Trust  Laws: 
"Big 
Business" 


84 


THE    CITIZEN   AND  THE    REPUBLIC 


Protecting 
Consumers: 
Pure  Food 
Laws 


coml^ination  or  Trust.  It  is  now  coming  to  be  recognized 
that  a  business  is  not  to  be  thought  of  as  good  or  l^ad  according 
to  its  size  but  according  to  its  methods.  "Big  business"  is  a 
natural  evolution,  promoted  by  easy  means  of  communication 
and  organization;  it  is  not  to  be  prevented  or  dissolved  but 
to  be  regulated  and  compelled  to  use  its  powers  of  produc- 
tion and  sale  for  the  common  benefit  of  all.  This  presents 
to  government  the  whole  problem  of  regulating  trusts  and 
combinations  in  restraint  of  trade.  For  this  reason  the 
Federal  Trade  Commission  was  created. 

2.  The  consumer  must  be  protected  against  fraudulent  goods 
at  extortionate  prices.  The  "law  of  supply  and  demand" 
of  the  old  political  economy  could  operate  in  a  com- 
munity where  producers,  consumers,  sellers,  and  buyers  all 
knew  one  another.  Now,  if  a  buyer  is  cheated  or  gets  bad 
goods  at  one  dealer's  store,  he  cannot  help  himself  by  going 
to  another.  There  the  goods  are  likely  to  be  the  same,  since 
all  goods  of  that  kind  come  from  the  same  source,  —  the  big 
supply  company.  The  buyer  cannot  know  personally  the 
manufacturer,  the  wholesaler,  or  even  the  retailer,  of  the  goods 
he  buys.  Producers  may  combine  to  extort  unreasonable 
prices,  and  frauds  may  be  practiced  against  which  the  con- 
sumer has  no  means  of  protecting  himself.  What  can  the 
buyer  do  when  he  finds  the  label  has  misled  and  deceived  him 
as  to  the  contents  of  the  package?  Or  when  the  milk  man  or 
the  butter  man  or  the  vegetable  man  or  the  coal  dealer  is  not 
giving  him  fair  weight  and  measure?  There  must  be  Pure  Food 
laws  to  protect  the  people  against  adulteration,  to  regulate 
wholesale  makers  of  food  products,  and  there  must  be  public 
oversight  and  control  to  protect  the  people  in  their  right  to  a 
fair  measure  for  a  fair  price.  All  these  needs  call  for  increased 
powers  and  regulations  of  government.  Government  inspection 
must  be  provided  for  in  meat-packing  establishments  and 
dairies.  Milk  must  not  be  contaminated  or  diluted;  oleo- 
margarine  must   not   be  sold  for   butter;  false  weights  and 


THE   ENLARGING   POWERS  OF   GOVERNMENT         85 

measures   must   be   exposed  by   government  detectives  and 
agents;  and  cheating  dealers  should  be  punished. 

3.  Investors  must  be  protected.  The  buyer  of  securities 
—  stocks  and  bonds  —  is  at  a  disadvantage.  He  looks  to 
government  for  protection.     The  old  common  law  principle    Protecting 

Xuvcstors 

caveat  emptor  —  "let  the  buyer  beware"  — ■  was  good  enough 
in  its  time  but  not  now.  This  meant  that  every  buyer  should 
look  out  for  himself.  If  he  got  caught  and  bought  worthless 
securities,  he  simply  suffered  from  his  own  lack  of  shrewdness 
and  got  what  he  deserved.  At  any  rate  the  law  gave  him  no 
remedy.  The  State  was  acting  somewhat  on  the  principle, 
"Every  fellow  for  himself  and  the  devil  take  the  hindmost." 
Laws  based  on  such  a  theory  were  immoral.  But  now  a 
more  Christian  and  a  better  social  sentiment  prevails.  People 
are  demanding  that  they  as  investors  shall  have  some  standard 
of  safety  and  honesty  in  the  issue  of  securities  and  that  the 
Government  shall  fix  this  standard  and  enforce  it.  So  "Blue 
Sky  Laws"  have  come  into  use  in  some  of  the  States  and  there  Laws" 
is  a  demand  for  more  of  them. 

A  "blue  sky  law"  is  one  designed  to  prevent  a  corporation 
from  selling  its  stocks  and  bonds  without  having  any  real 
values  behind  them.  Schemes  are  set  on  foot  and  enter- 
prises are  made  to  look  well  on  paper,  or  are  over-capitalized 
with  a  view  of  unloading  a  lot  of  worthless  stock  on  gullible 
people.  Sharpers  misrepresent  and  sell  this  stock  to  honest 
and  unsuspecting  investors,  who  get  nothing  in  return  but 
"blue  sky."  A  "blue  sky  law"  would  compel  a  company  to 
file  with  the  auditor  of  State,  or  in  some  way  make  available 
to  the  public,  full  information  as  to  its  officers,  holdings, 
assets,  and  operations,  with  penalties  for  misrepresentations. 
If  the  company  were  fraudulent  in  its  operations  it  could  be 
closed  up  and  its  officers  convicted  and  imprisoned  for  the 
crime  of  "getting  money  under  false  pretenses."  The  public 
should  be  protected  against  unscrupulous  sharks  who  practice 
"high  finance." 


86 


THE   CITIZEN   AND  THE   REPUBLIC 


Labor  Laws 


Factory 
and 
Mine 
Inspection 


Government  Regulation  of  Industrial  Conditions 

A  whole  new  field  of  labor  legislation  has  come  to  the 
Government  with  the  development  of  the  factory  system, 
the  wage  system,  capitalism,  and  large  industrial  organizations 
under  "captains  of  industry."  The  Government  must  have 
an  eye  to  the  rate  of  wages,  the  settlement  of  labor  disputes, 
factory  laws  and  mine  laws,  the  increased  efficiency  of  the 
worker,  and  compensation  to  workmen  when  they  are  injured 
while  at  work.  The  State  is,  therefore,  enacting  laws  touching 
dangerous  machinery,  ventilation  and  sanitation,  fire  pro- 
tection, hours  of  labor,  "sweatshops,^  and  general  decency 
in  labor  conditions." 

The  State  provides  agents  for  the  inspection  of  factories 
and  mines,  and  the  dangerous  parts  about  engines  and 
boilers,  requiring  safety  devices  where  they  are  needed. 
The  dust  and  smoke  and  fumes  of  mills,  especially  of  lead  and 
paint  mills,  and  others  of  a  character  that  are  likely  to  be  in- 
jurious to  the  health  of  the  workers,  must  be  alleviated  by 
higher  ceilings  and  better  air  supplies.  Factories  are  forbidden 
to  employ  children  under  a  certain  age  and  women  more  than 
a  certain  number  of  hours  and  under  certain  conditions.  In 
New  York,  Massachusetts,  Pennsylvania,  and  Illinois,  the 
four  largest  manufacturing  States,  the  age  for  child  labor  has 
been  fixed  at  fourteen,  and  the  last  does  not  permit  the  chil- 
dren to  work  more  than  a  certain  number  of  hours  each  day. 
On  account  of  the  poverty  of  many  families  in  the  factory 
towns  and  the  need  felt  for  the  children's  wages,  the  parents 


1  In  the  clothing  industry  the  materials  for  garments  are  often  taken 
from  the  tailoring  establishments  to  the  so-called  homes  of  the  workers 
where,  in  a  single  crowded  tenement  room,  the  whole  family  and  other 
workers,  make  up  the  garments.  Such  a  place  is  called  a  "  sweatshop." 
Cleanliness  is  difficult  and-  the  work  may  sometimes  be  done  in  rooms 
where  persons  are  sick  with  contagious  diseases,  a  serious  danger  to  cus- 
tomers and  the  public  health,  not  to  speak  of  the  greater  evil,  —  the 
impossibility  of  any  decent  home  life  for  the  workers. 


THE  ENLARGING  POWERS  OF  GOVERNMENT 


87 


often  will   not   cooperate  with   the   authorities   in  enforcing 
these  laws  but  seek  rather  to  evade  them. 

Workmen's  Compensation  Laws  provide  for  paying  some 
compensation  to  workingmen  for  injuries  received  while  at 
their  toil.  Fully  75,000  persons  are  killed  every  year  in  Ameri- 
can industries  and  many  more  have  been  injured.  A  work- 
man's injury  may  result  from  his  own  carelessness  or  by  the 
carelessness  of  a  co-laborer,  or  from  that  of  his  employer, 
—  that  is,  from  the  condition  of  the  shop  and  tools  of  his  work, 
or  from  his  having  been  kept  at  work  over  hours.  Whatever 
the  cause,  a  Workmen's  Compensation  Act  is  intended  to  have 
the  facts  ascertained  and  damages  awarded  by  some  fair 
standard  without  the  necessity  of  a  lawsuit  against  the  em- 
ployers or  corporation  on  the  part  of  the  workman,  or  one  of 
his  family  if  the  workman  be  killed. 

A  commission  ascertains  the  extent  of  the  injury  and  fixes 
the  award,  while  the  workmen  agree  to  limit  the  amount  of 
damages  to  rates  fixed  in  the  act.  Under  compensation 
laws  the  award  is  made  upon  evidence  and  by  due  process 
"made  and  provided,"  without  expense  to  the  injured  work- 
man or  his  family. 

In  case  of  industrial  disputes  between  employers  and 
labor  unions  Boards  of  Arbitration  are  provided  whose  duty 
it  is,  in  cases  of  strikes  and  lockouts,  to  investigate  the  situa- 
tion and  try  to  bring  about  a  peaceable  settlement.  These 
industrial  disputes,  when  they  result  in  strikes  or  lockouts,  putes 
cost  vast  sums  of  money  to  workmen  and  employers,  said  to 
exceed  $200,000,000  a  year  in  America.  Arbitration  is  gen- 
erally voluntary  between  the  labor  unions  and  the  employers' 
associations,  under  what  is  called  a  "  trade  agreement,"  cover- 
ing wages  and  hours  of  labor,  apprenticeships,  and  other  con- 
ditions. When  a  dispute  arises  it  goes  automatically  before 
a  joint  committee  of  the  two  bodies,  which  is  usually  able  to 
come  to  some  compromise  agreement.  A  disinterested  labor 
expert  may  be  called  in  to  aid  in  these  adjustments,  and  if  no 


Workmen's 

Compensation 

Laws 


Settlement  of 
Industrial  Dis- 


88 


THE   CITIZEN   AND  THE   REPUBLIC 


Public  Service 
Corporations 


"  Natural 
MonoDlies ' 


decision  satisfactory  to  Ijoth  sides  can  be  arrived  at  an  appeal 
may  be  taken  to  an  Arbitration  Board.  The  Government 
seeks  to  encourage  such  arbitration,  as-  prolonged  "  labor 
wars  "  have  led  to  considerable  demand  for  compulsory  arbi- 
tration. In  some  labor  disputes,  as  on  railways  and  street 
car  lines,  the  public  has  vital  interests  at  stake.  It  is  felt 
that  the  settlement  or  prevention  of  such  troubles  should  not 
be  left  entirely  to  the  parties  in  dispute.  When  the  public 
interests  and  the  peace  and  order  of  the  community  are  inter- 
fered with  by  private  quarrels  the  state  has  a  right  to  compel 
the  disputants  to  come  into  court  to  have  their  differences 
settled  by  an  impartial  judicial  tribunal. 

Government  Control  of  Public  Utilities 

A  Public  Service  Corporation  is  one  that  is  chartered  or 
authorized  for  the  purpose  of  rendering  some  important  public 
service,  such- as  furnishing  light,  water,  heat,  transportation, 
or  communication  for  the  people.  Private  capital  may  be 
invested  in  such  enterprises,  but  such  corporations  may  not 
be  managed  merely  for  private  interests.  They  use  the  public 
streets,  alleys,  and  highways,  and  such  use  gives  value  to  their 
plant,  while  the  life  of  the  city  is  their  chief  asset.  The 
public  is  interested  in  good  service  and  fair  rates.  In  modern 
life,  especially  in  cities,  people  must  have  telephones,  and  gas 
for  cooking,  and  electric  lights,  and  means  of  travel  and 
transportation,  and  water  from  the  city  mains.  These  are  all 
public  utilities,  —  they  are  public  in  their  character  and  are 
not  only  useful  but  almost  indispensable. 

The  business  of  furnishing  any  of  these  things  is  a 
natural  monopoly,  —  from  the  nature  of  the  business  there 
should  be  but  one  company  for  each  enterprise.  Whether 
there  be  two  or  more  in  the  beginning,  there  will  be  but 
one  in  the  long  run.  Private  interest  if  not  public  interest 
will  lead  to  combination.  It  is  foolish  to  have  two  tele- 
phone companies  in  a  city;    much  better  and  cheaper  service 


THE  ENLARGING  POWERS  OF  GOVERNMENT 


89 


can  be  had  from  one.  Two  or  more  water  companies  or  gas 
companies  should  not  be  allowed  to  tear  up  the  city  streets; 
one  does  enough  of  that.  If  the  city  or  State  does  not  itself 
furnish  these  necessary  conveniences  for  the  people,  then  the 
State,  acting  for  the  public  through  a  Public  Utilities  Com- 
mission, should  regulate  and  control  the  private  corporations 
that  are  authorized  to  do  so.  The  public  have  a  right  to 
compel  such  companies  to  treat  all  patrons  alike,  to  fix  fair 
rates,  and  to  keep  the  service  at  a  suitable  and  contract 
standard.  The  rates  that  are  paid  are  like  taxes,  since  the 
service  cannot  be  dispensed  with,  and  by  having  to  pay 
these  rates  the  whole  public  are  contributors  to  the  profits 
of  the  corporation.  The  public,  while  seeking  to  do  justice 
to  the  corporation,  should  share  both  in  the  control  and  the 
profits.  Many  cities  receive  large  returns  in  revenues  from  the 
franchises  granted  to  these  public  service  corporations  and 
from  their  operations.     (See  p.  132.) 

Gro\\"i;h  of  National  Po\vers  at  Expense  oi'  State 
Powers 

In  all  this  growth  in  governmental  powers  there  has  been 
a  constant  and  increasing  tendency  toward  the  enlargement 
of  national  powers  at  the  expense  of  the  States.  The  national 
government  is  urged  to  go  still  further  in  its  powers  of  regu- 
lating commerce  and  in  its  investigation  and  control  of  indus- 
trial disputes.  It  is  urged  further  to  regulate  railway  rates 
and  express  companies;  to  supervise  life  insurance;  to  enact 
a  national  divorce  law  and  national  prohibition  of  the  liquor 
traffic;  to  provide  national  trade  mark  legislation;  a  national 
child  labor  law;  the  erection  of  a  national  university;  the 
deflection  of  immigrants  and  the  control  of  their  settlement 
in  the  right  parts  of  the  country;  a  national  quarantine  law; 
the  national  control  of  fisheries  and  oyster  beds  within  the 
waters  of  a  State;  to  appropriate  funds  for  local  benefits  and 
to  exercise  national  inspection,  supervision,  and  control  over 


The  Public 
Utilities    Com- 
mission 


Are  State 
Powers  to  be 
preserved? 


90 


THE   CITIZEN   AND  THE   REPUBLIC 


state  Neglect 

and 

IneflSciency 

Tends  to  the 

Increase  of 

National 

Powers 


the  local  domestic  affairs  of  the  peoj)le  in  many  other  ways. 
The  various  national  commissions  and  powers  that  we  have 
described  indicate  the  extent  of  this  growth  of  Federal  activity 
and  control.  So  noticeable  has  this  been  in  recent  years  that 
the  fear  has  been  expressed  that  local  self-government  and  the 
powers  of  the  States  will  eventually  be  swallowed  up  in  one  all- 
embracing  Federal  power.  Old  "  States'  rights"  loyalty  is  fad- 
ing away,  and  even  the  States  of  the  South  that  were  the  most 
devoted  to  that  doctrine  are  willingly  accepting  the  exercise  of 
more  and  more  national  functions.  The  reason  for  it  is  that 
the  people  are  willing  to  let  the  national  Government  pay  for 
enterprises  within  the  States  and,  besides,  they  feel  that  what 
the  national  Government  undertakes  is  sure  to  be  more  effi- 
ciently done  than  if  it  were  left  to  the  States,  and  the  more 
efhcient  States  wish  protection  against  the  negligence  of  others. 
They  feel  that  Uncle  Sam  has  a  way  of  enforcing  the  law  and 
getting  things  done.  The  illicit  liquor  seller,  who  runs  his 
"blind  tiger"  or  "bootlegging"  trade  in  defiance  of  State  law 
would  not  dare  to  run  a  week  without  a  Federal  license. 

It  is  now  for  the  States  to  decide  whether  this  tendency 
shall  proceed.  Will  they  give  their  own  people  more  efficient 
government  while  recognizing  their  obligation  to  the  nation 
as  a  whole?  "No  State  can  live  unto  itself  alone."  It  must 
regulate  its  affairs  with  reference  to  its  sister  States. 


"If  any  State  is  maintaining  laws  which  afford  opportunity  for 
practices  condemned  by  the  pubhc  sense  of  the  whole  country,  or 
laws  which,  through  the  operation  of  our  modern  system  of  communi- 
cation and  business,  are  injurious  to  the  interests  of  the  whole  country, 
that  State  is  violating  the  conditions  upon  which  alone  its  power 
can  be  preserved.  If  any  State  maintains  laws  which  promote  and 
foster  the  enormous  overcapitalization  of  corporations  condemned 
by  the  people  of  the  country  generally;  if  any  State  maintains  laws 
designed  to  make  easy  the  formation  of  trusts  and  the  creation  of 
monopolies;  if  any  State  maintains  laws  which  permit  conditions  of 
child  labor  revolting  to  the  sense  of  mankind;  if  any  State  maintains 


THE  ENLARGING  POWERS  OF  GOVERNMENT    9 1 

laws  of  marriage  and  divorce  so  far  inconsistent  with  the  general 
standard  of  the  nation  as  to  violently  derange  the  domestic  relations 
which  the  majority  of  the  States  desire  to  preserve,  that  State  is 
promotmg  the  tendency  of  the  people  of  the  country  to  seek  relief 
through  the  national  Government  and  the  extinction  of  local  con- 
trol. ...  It  is  useless  for  the  advocates  of  States  Rights  to  inveigh 
against  the  extension  of  National  authority  in  the  fields  of  necessary 
control  when  the  States  themselves  fail  in  the  performance  of  their 
duty.  The  instinct  for  self-government  among  the  people  of  the 
United  States  is  too  strong  to  permit  them  long  to  respect  any 
one's  right  to  exercise  a  power  which  he  fails  to  exercise.  The 
governmental  control  which  they  deem  just  and  necessary  they  will 
have.  It  may  be  that  such  control  would  better  be  exercised  in  par- 
ticular instances  by  the  governments  of  the  States,  but  the  people 
will  have  the  control  they  need  either  from  the  States  or  from  the 
National  Government;  and  if  the  States  fail  to  furnish  it  in  due 
measure,  sooner  or  later  constructions  of  the  Constitution  will  be 
found  to  vest  the  power  where  it  will  be  exercised,  — •  in  the  national 
Government.  The  true  and  only  way  to  preserve  State  authority  is 
to  be  found  in  the  awakened  conscience  of  the  States,  their  broadened 
views  and  higher  standard  of  responsibility  to  the  general  public; 
in  effective  legislation  by  the  States  in  conformity  to  the  general 
moral  sense  of  the  country;  and  in  the  vigorous  exercise  for  the 
general  public  good  of  that  State  authority  which  is  to  be  preserved."  ^ 

As  we  have  seen  the  powers  of  government  are  everywhere 
increasing.  After  all,  is  "  the  government  best  which  governs 
least"  ?    One  might  think  as  he  noticed  this  vast  increase  of   ]f^^ 

°  Government 

governmental  powers  that  a  knowledge  of  them  would  make    best  which 
the  bones  of  Jefferson  and  the  early  fathers  rattle  in  their   ^°'^^^^  _, 

•'  -'  J  1         Least  "under 

graves,  except  as  one  reflects  that  if  the  fathers  could  see  the   a  Government 
new  conditions  they  would  be  quite  sure  to  consent  to  the  new   ^^  ^^^  People? 
arrangements.     The  governments  of  Europe  which  Jefferson 
knew,  had  been  chiefly  a  burden  upon  the  people,  imposing 
taxes  upon  them  and  interfering  with  their  rights,  interests, 

'  Elihu  Root,  address  in  Reiiisch's  Readings  in  American  Federal 
Government,  pp.  735-736. 


92  THE  CITIZEN   AND  THE   REPUBLIC 

and  actions.  But  under  a  ''government  of  the  people,  for  the 
people,  and  by  the  people,"  government  has  become  not  an 
oppressive  agency  apart  from  the  people,  but  a  benevolent 
agency  for  the  cooperation  of  the  people  in  working  out  what 
they  wish  to  do  together.  It  is  the  people's  government  which 
they  mean  to  use  in  whatever  way  will  best  promote  their 
common  good  and  common  interests.  This  growth  in  democ- 
racy, together  with  the  notable  changes  in  industrial  life,  will 
account  in  large  measure  for  the  great  growth  in  govern- 
mental powers  and  governmental  problems  which  our  country 
has  witnessed  in  recent  years.  The  people  are  undertaking 
to  do  more  for  themselves  and  they  are  using  their  State  and 
National  governments  for  this  purpose. 

REFERENCES 

Beard,  C.  A.     American    Government    and     Politics,     Chap.     XXXII, 

pp.  721-753,  "Social  and  Economic  Legislation." 
Beard,  C.  A.     Readings    in    American    Government    and    Politics,    pp. 

475-478,  "Evils  of  Over-legislation." 
Bulletin,    U.  S.  Department  of  Labor,  No.  Ill,  Hunt,  W.  C,  "Workers 

at  Gainful  Occupations." 
Guitteau,   William   B.     Government  and  Politics  in  the    United  States, 

Chap.  XII,  pp.   129-139,  "The  Police  Power";   Chaps.  XIV  and 

XV,    pp.    151-171,     "Public    Charities,"    "Control    of    Economic 

Interests."     Note  the  "Questions  and  Exercises." 
Hart,  A.  B.     Actual  Government,  pp.  481-534,  "Commercial  Functions." 
Holt,  Lucius  H.     Introduction  to  the  Study  of  Government,  Chap.  XII, 

pp.  285-305,  "Optional  Functions  of  Government." 
Reinsch,  Paul  S.     Readings  on  American  Federal  Government,  pp.  774- 

802,  "Centralization  and  New  Fields  for  Federal  Power." 
Roosevelt,  Theodore.      The  New  Nationalism. 
Young,  James  T.      The  New  American  Government  and  Its  Work,  Chaps. 

XVIII-XXII,   pp.    342-441,    "The   State   and   Its   Work."     Also 

several  chapters  on  the  Powers  of  Congress. 

TOPICS  AND    QUERIES 

1.  Why  did  Jefferson  think  that  "the  government  is  best  which  governs 

least"  but  would  not  likely  think  that  now  if  he  were  alive? 

2.  In  what  sense  may  principles  of  government  be  considered  perma- 

nent while  policies  of  government  must   be  adapted  to  circum- 
stances? 


THE    ENLARGING   POWERS  OF  GOVERNMENT        93 

3.  In  what  sense  is  the  Government  a  cooperative  agency? 

4.  If  the  majority  can  rule  and  workingmen  are  in  the  majority,  why 

do  they  not  control  the  Government?     Would  that  be  "  class  legis- 
lation "  ?      Is  that  desirable? 

5.  Debate:    "Resolved   that   public   utilities   should   be  under  public 

control  and  ownership." 

6.  Debate:    "Resolved   that   National  Powers   should  continue   to  in- 

crease and  State  powers  decrease." 


CHAPTER  IV 

THE   COMMUNITY  AND    THE   CITIZEN:    LOCAL 
GOVERNMENT 


Government  In 
America  began 
Socially  in 
Settlements 
and  Plantations 


History  and  Development  of  Local  Government 

Government  began  in  America  in  the  settlement,  usually 
called  a  colony.  It  was  sometimes  called  a  "town"  or  a  "plan- 
tation." ''In  the  name  of  God,  Amen,"  began  the  compact 
signed  in  the  cabin  of  the  Mayflower  by  the  Pilgrim  Fathers,  by 
which  theyagreed  to  live  together  in  order  and  under  authority. 
They  wished  to  prevent  the  "discontented  and  mutinous" 
from  "using  their  liberty"  too  much  to  the  detriment  of  all 
the  rest.  When  "every  man  does  what  is  right  in  his  own 
eyes,"  as  some  of  the  people  wished  to  do  who  were  coming  to 
America,  trouble  is  likely  to  arise  because  some  men's  eyes 
see  evil  and  they  follow  what  they  see  and  like.  The  com- 
munity sense  and  the  common  welfare  have  to  decide  as  to 
the  limits  of  men's  rights  and  conduct.  So  the  first  settlers  in 
their  local  community  in  Massachusetts,  or  down  in  Virginia, 
combined  themselves  together  into  a  "civill  body  politick" 
to  "frame  such  just  and  equal  laws,  from  time  to  time,  as  shall 
be  thought  most  meete  and  convenient  for  the  general  good  of 
the  Colonie,  unto  which  we  promise  all  due  submission  and 
obedience."  ^ 

Other  settlements,  or  colonies,  were  made  on  lands  granted 
by  the  crown.  The  people  came  as  townsmen,  in  families 
from  certain  neighborhoods,  and  they  settled  in  towns,  to 
which  they  often  gave  the  names  of  the  places  from  which 
they  came,  —  Boston,  Ipswich,  Plymouth,  Dorchester.  Their 
settlements  were  sometimes  managed  and  their  officers  elected 
1  Mayflower  Compact. 
94 


COMMUNITY  AND  CITIZEN:    LOCAL  GOVERNMENT    95 


by  commercial  corporations  whose  ruling  heads  remained 
in  England.  Later  all  governing  powers  were  transferred 
to  the  colonies.  In  each  of  the  colonies  there  soon  came 
to  be  other  local  towns  and  settlements.  Then  as  the  settle- 
ments and  population  increased  and  because  they  had  common 
interests  and  common  dangers  and  needed  common  laws  the 
several  towns  within  a  New  England  colony  came  to  elect  repre- 
sentatives to  a  Council  or  Assembly  to  act  with  the  Gov- 
ernor in  making  and  administering  the  laws  according  to  the 
terms  of  the  charter,  or  constitution,  which  the  home  Govern- 
ment had  granted.  The  first  assembly  in  Virginia,  which  was 
also  the  first  representative  assembly  in  America,  was  con- 
vened by  Governor  Yeardley  in  1619,  and  consisted  "of  two 
Burgesses  out  of  every  Town,  Hundred,  or  other  particular 
Plantation,  to  be  respectively  chosen  by  the  Inhabitants."' 
Thus  began  representative  government  in  America,  and  thus 
came  about,  through  a  sort  of  cooperation  or  federation  of 
the  towns  or  settlements,  the  Colony  Government  which 
afterwards  became  the  State  Gov^ernment. 

The  colony  government  soon  came  to  exercise  authority 
over  the  towns  in  general  State  matters,  but  the  latter  always 
retained  entire  control  over  their  local  affairs,  and  in  some 
colonies,  such  as  Connecticut  and  Rhode  Island,  the  colony 
government  was  looked  upon  more  as  a  federation  of  towns 
than  as  a  superior  authority.  This  indicates  the  manner  of 
growth  or  the  evolution  of  government  in  America,  the  towns 
federating  to  make  the  State,  the  States  federating  to  make 
the  nation.  So,  as  we  see  from  the  history  of  the  colonies, 
the  beginnings  of  our  government  were  local.  We  had  local 
self-government  in  our  system  at  the  start,  and  we  still  retain 
it  in  our  habits  and  our  blood. 

In  1776  the  thirteen  original  colonies  in  America,  each  having 
its  own  local  government,  united  to  resist  what  they  deemed 
unjust  laws  and  because  they  wished  to  continue  to  govern 
themselves  in  all  their  domestic  or  community  affairs.     They 


Local 

Government 
developed   into 
State 
Govenunent 


Local  Self- 
government  Is 
retained  while 
State  and 
National 
Governments 
are  developed 


96  Till-    CITIZEN   AND  THE   REPUBLIC 

fought  for  their  independence  from  Great  Britain  and  after 
achieving  it  they  were  known  as  States  or  Commonwealths. 
These  States  then  formed  "amore  perfect  union"  and  under  this 
firm  union  they  have  grown  into  the  larger  community,  known 
as  the  Nation,  the  United  States  of  America. 

From  first  to  last  through  all  this  growth  from  primitive 

settlements   to  a  great  nation  the  people   of  America  have 

Community        Hved  in  civll  communities.     They  have  expanded  from  sea 

Civics:  National  .  . 

and  World-wide  to  sca  m  the  samc  way,  by  new  community  settlements  m 
the  West,  until  we  now  have  forty-eight  States  organized 
under  community  life  with  various  kinds  of  local  civil 
communities.  All  these  communities,  large  and  small,  offer 
a  variety  of  "community  civics,"  in  the  neighborhood,  school 
district,  township,  county,  village,  city,  town.  State,  nation. 
And  the  nation  is  now  reaching  out  to  embrace  in  its  in- 
fluence for  good  the  world-community.  America  is  one  of  a 
family  of  nations.  The  whole  world  is  the  field  of  civics  and 
international  affairs,  and  the  great  questions  of  world  war 
and  world  peace  were  never  more  important  to  America  than 
they  are  to-day. 

Forms  of  Local  Government 

Each  State  provides  its  own  forms  of  local  government. 
They  are  essentially  the  same  throughout  the  country,  the 
differences  that  exist  being  due  chiefly  to  the  historical  con- 
ditions under  which  the  different  sections  of  the  country  were 
settled.  In  New  England  we  have  the  town  system;  in 
Virginia  and  the  South  the  county  system;  in  the  Middle  and 
Western  sections  a  combination  of  these  which  may  be  called 
the  comity-township  system,  or  the  mixed  system. 

The   Town 

The  New  England  town  is  the  oldest  of  our  political  com- 
munities. The  places  of  settlement  were  found  in  a  natural 
but  irregular  way,  somewhat  as  a  cow  finds  pasturage,  the 


A  New  Englaxd  Town-  Hall 


A  New  England  Common 


Ik  I-*-^ 


'^^m 


County  Court  House,  Memphis,  Tennessee 


County  Court  House,  Mobile,  Alabama 


COMMUNITY  AND   CITIZEN:    LOCAL  GOVERNMENT    97 

people  wandering  to  the  lands  that  suited  them  best.  The 
town  is  usually  irregular  in  shape  and  in  area,  and  may- 
contain  a  few  hundred  people  or  it  may  have  a  population  of 
more  than  100,000,  as  the  villages  grow  into  cities.^ 

The  town  manages  the  schools,  the  roads,  the  bridges, 
the  care  of  the  poor,  the  lighting  and  paving  of  streets,  etc. 
It  acts  as  the  agent  of  the  State  in  carrying  out  State  policies 
and  State  laws,  assessing  and  collecting  the  State  taxes  and  "^"^^ 
administering  health  and  police  laws,  and,  except  in  Massa-  and  Town 
chusetts,  it  remains  as  it  was  from  the  first,  the  district  or  unit  Meeting 
for  electing  a  representative  to  the  legislature.  The  govern- 
ment of  the  early  New  England  town  was  very  democratic. 
The  settlers  (heads  of  families)  came  together  in  a  town  meeting 
to  select  their  officers  ("selectmen")  and  to  decide  on  all 
matters  of  local  government.  These  town  meetings  are  still 
held  annually  in  New  England,  usually  in  the  spring,  due  notice 
being  given  by  the  selectmen.  At  these  meetings  the  qualified 
voters,  with  a  moderator  presiding  and  the  town  clerk  acting 
as  secretary,  decide  on  questions  of  taxes,  improvements, 
schools,  highways,  etc.  The  town  officers  make  their  reports 
for  the  year,  and  estimates  and  plans  are  submitted  for  the 
following  year.  These  are  discussed  and  passed  upon  and 
new  officers  are  elected  for  the  year.  The  officers  are  Selectmen 
who  have  general  administrative  charge  of  the  town,  the  clerk 
to  keep  the  records  and  statistics,  the  treasurer,  assessors 
and  collectors  of  taxes,  constables,  school  committees,  highway 
officers,  overseers  of  the  poor,  and  library  and  cemetery 
trustees.  Everything  is  in  the  hands  of  the  local  community, 
whose  officers  are  responsible  for  yearly  accounts  of  their 
stewardship.  In  these  town  meetings  spirited  discussions 
arise,  as  any  voter  may  introduce  any  resolution  he  pleases 
and  defend  it  against  all  comers.  Every  proposal  is  criticized 
and  scrutinized  and  a  hvely  interest  in  public  afifairs  is  culti- 

1  New  Haven,  Connecticut,  still  retains  its  town  government,  though 
it  has  a  separate  city  government,  too. 


98  THE  CITIZEN   AND  THE   REPUBLIC 

vated.  It  was  in  such  meetings  that  Samuel  Adams,  John 
Adams,  James  Otis,  Josiah  Quincy,  and  other  New  England 
leaders  had  their  training  for  citizenship  and  statesmanship. 
This  form  of  local  government  in  the  town,  by  mass  meet- 
ing and  public  debate,  is  not  now  so  easily  conducted  as  in 
Decline  of  the    j^orc  primitive  times.     Cities  have  arisen  within  the  limits  of 

Town   Meeting  •  •         .  •  i  i  i  ^  t,    * 

the  towns;  immigration  has  brought  a  more  heterogeneous 
population;  there  are  clashes  between  factory  interests  and 
farm  interests;  modern  machine  and  caucus  methods  have 
been  introduced;  the  voters  are  too  numerous  to  be  accom- 
modated in  a  single  hall,  and  for  these  reasons,  though  the 
town  organization  is  still  retained  in  many  places  of  con- 
siderable size,  in  many  of  the  larger  cities  the  popular  meeting 
has  given  way  to  a  municipal  organization  or  a  representative 
city  council. 

The  County 

The  county  arose  in  the  South.  The  planters  lived  far 
apart  and  governmental  areas  covering  considerable  territory 
arose,  after  the  manner  of  the  counties  in  England.  It  was 
a  civil  division  of  the  colony,  or  State,  for  judicial  or  adminis- 
trative purposes.  The  county's  functions  increased  and  it 
finally  came  to  have  charge  of  most  of  the  local  affairs,  — 
schools,  poorhouses,  jails,  courthouses,  highways,  bridges. 

Counties  vary  in  size  and  population  in  various  States.  A 
small  county  in  Rhode  Island  has  about  twenty-five  square  miles, 
a  large  one  in  New  York  over  2800  square  miles.  A  thinly 
populated  county  in  Texas  may  have  500  people,  a  thickly 
populated  one  in  New  York  over  2,000,000.^  In  Delaware 
there  are  three  counties;  in  Texas  there  are  244,  while  in 
other  States  the  numbers  range  between  these  figures.  In  New 
England  the  counties  are  not  numerous.  In  Massachusetts, 
with  over  3,360,000  people,  there  are  only  fourteen  counties. 

1  When  cities  arise  within  a  county  their  local  affairs  are  managed 
by  a  separate  city  government. 


COMMUNITY   AND   CITIZEN:     LOCAL  GOVERNMENT     99 

The  New  England  county  was  originally  only  a  collection 
of  towns  for  judicial  purposes,  —  a  convenient  district  for 
holding  civil  and  criminal  courts,  and  the  county  officers  were 
merely  officers  of  the  court,  —  as  clerk,  sheriff,  constable. 
As  a  local  governing  body  the  county  was  altogether  sub-    ^^^  County 

,.  •  T        1       o         1  1   ^Tr  .1     Officers  and 

ordmate  or  unimportant.  In  the  bouth  and  West  more  local  their  Functions 
government  came  to  the  county,  and  the  county  became  the 
unit  of  representation  in  the  legislature  and  the  State  agent 
in  collecting  State  taxes  and  executing  State  laws.  A  Board 
of  County  Commissioners  —  usually  three  men  —  has  charge 
of  the  business  and  buildings  of  the  county,  deciding  on 
improvements,  purchasing  of  suppHes,  making  contracts,  ap- 
propriating money,  issuing  bonds,  licenses,  etc.  The  Com- 
missioners are  to  the  county  what  the  legislature  is  to  the 
State,  except  that  the  Board  of  Commissioners  is  an  adminis- 
trative rather  than  a  legislative  body;  it  acts  under  the  law 
and  administers  affairs  for  the  county  as  the  legislature 
directs,  but  the  interests  of  the  county  are  in  the  hands  of 
the  commissioners  so  far  as  local  powers  extend.  The  Com- 
missioners are  elected  by  the  voters,  either  in  districts  of  the 
county  or  at  large. 

The  County  has  a  number  of  other  officers:  Auditor,  Clerk, 
Treasurer,  Sheriff,  Coroner,  Recorder,  Superintendent  of 
Schools,  Prosecuting  Attorney,  the  latter  being  in  some  in- 
stances the  public  prosecutor  for  a  circuit  of  counties. 

The  Sheriff  is  the  most  important  executive  officer  of  the 
county.  He  is  usually  elected  by  the  voters  for  terms  ranging 
from  one  to  four  years.  He  is  charged  with  the  duty  of  keeping 
the  peace,  attending  upon  the  court  and  carrying  out  its  orders. 
He  may  have  to  hang  a  criminal,  to  seize  property  and  sell  it  for  '^^^  SherifE 
taxes,  or  to  carry  out  a  judgment  of  the  court,  to  arrest  offend- 
ers and  put  them  in  jail,  or  to  defend  a  prisoner  against  a  mob, 
or  to  preserve  order  and  protect  property  in  times  of  strikes 
and  riots.  He  may  appoint  deputies  to  assist  him,  or  in  times 
of  emergency  he  may  summon  the  bystanders,  or  the  posse 


100 


TIIIZ   CITIZEN    AND  THE   REPUBLIC 


The  County 
Clerk 


The  County 
Auditor 


comUatus,  which  consists  of  the  able-bodied  male  citizens  of 
his  county,  and  it  then  becomes  the  duty  of  every  such  citizen 
to  aid  the  sheriff  in  executing  the  laws  and  maintaining  the 
power  and  dignity  of  the  State;  or  he  may  request  the  Governor 
to  send  the  State  militia  to  his  aid  if  the  violators  of  the  laws 
are  too  powerful  to  be  overcome  by  local  means. 

The  County  Clerk  acts  both  as  Secretary  of  the  Board  of 
County  Commissioners,  to  keep  the  minutes  of  the  business, 
and  as  a  clerk  to  the  Circuit  or  County  Court  to  keep  a  record 
of  all  court  proceedings.  The  clerk's  office  should  contain  a 
record  of  all  county  contracts,  bids  for  public  buildings,  election 
notices,  marriage  licenses,  saloon  licenses,  the  docket  of  cases 
to  be  brought  to  trial,  warrants  and  writs  issued  and  judgments 
entered,  and  all  papers  and  records  which  the  court  wishes  to 
file.'-  The  county  clerks  are  usually  election  officers,  whose 
duty  it  is  to  give  notice  of  elections,  take  charge  of  the  ballots, 
and  keep  election  records.  The  county  clerks  are  usually 
elected  by  the  voters  for  varying  terms  in  different  States  — 
from  one  to  four  years  —  but  in  some  States  they  are  appointed 
by  the  Judge  of  the  court. 

The  County  Treasurer  receives  and  takes  care  of  the  county 
funds.  For  the  safety  of  these  funds  he  is  usually  placed 
under  bond  to  insure  the  county  against  loss  because  of  any 
malfeasance  or  incompetency  of  the  treasurer.  Many  States 
now  provide  that  the  public  funds  shall  be  deposited  in  ap- 
proved banks  under  security,  the  interest  accruing  therefrom 
to  come  to  the  public  treasury.  The  Treasurer's  office  in  a 
populous  county  is  very  lucrative  if  the  Treasurer  is  allowed  to 
retain  for  himself  the  interest  he  receives  from  the  banks  on 
public  deposits.  The  county  Treasurers  are  usually  elected 
by  popular  vote. 

The  Auditor  is  the  accountant  of  the  county.  His  books 
are  intended   to  check   up   the  accounts   of   the  Treasurer's 

1  In  some  States  the  clerk  for  the  Commissioners  and  the  clerk  for 
the  judicial  court  are  two  different  officers. 


COMMUNITY  AND  CITIZEN:    LOCAL   GOVERNMENT     loi 

office  and  other  oflEices.  The  Auditor  issues  the  warrants 
on  the  Treasurer  for  the  payment  of  all  bills,  and  his  books 
should  show  all  expenditures  and  receipts  of  public  money. 
Some  States  provide  for  State  accountants  to  inspect  and 
correct  the  books  of  the  counties.  In  many  counties  the 
Auditors,  elected  by  popular  vote,  may  often  be  good  cam- 
paigners in  getting  votes,  but  not  competent  bookkeepers 
and  the  public  accounts,  upon  inspection  by  experts,  are 
found  to  be  in  confusion,  even  where  no  dishonesty  has 
been  intended. 

The  County  Recorder  has  charge  of  the  legal  records  of  the    "^^^  County 

,         ,       ,  .       Recorder 

county,  —  the  deeds,  mortgages,  leases,  releases,  etc.  He  is 
sometimes  called  Register  of  Deeds.  Sales  of,  and  mortgage 
claims  to,  real  estate  must  be  made  a  matter  of  public  record 
in  indexed  volumes,  in  order  that  the  ownership  of  property 
may  be  readily  traced. 

The  County  Superintendent  of  Schools  has  general  oversight  '^^^  County 
of  the  public  schools  of  the  county  —  not  so  much  of  the  of  Schools 
schools  in  the  cities  and  incorporated  towns  within  a  county 
which  have  their  own  superintendents,  but  chiefly  of  the 
rural  schools.  He  examines  teachers,  issues  licenses  to  teach, 
visits  the  schools,  directs  county  and  township  teachers' 
institutes,  makes  statistical  reports  of  the  county  schools  to 
the  State  Superintendent  of  Public  Instruction,  and,  in  general, 
seeks  to  promote  pubhc  education  in  the  county.  In  some 
States  he  is  elected  by  popular  vote,  in  others  by  county  boards 
of  education,  consisting  of  Township  Trustees,  or  local  school 
officers. 

The  County  Coroner  has  for  his  chief  duty  the  holding  of  "^^^  County 
inquests  upon  the  bodies  of  persons  whose  death  may  have 
been  caused  by  violence  or  unlawful  means.  In  such  cases  it 
is  his  duty  to  hold,  not  a  trial,  but  an  inquiry,  and  for  this 
purpose  he  may  summon  a  jury,  and  such  witnesses  as  may 
be  able  to  testify,  and  may  have  medical  examination  made 
in    order   to    ascertain    the    cause    of   death.     The    Coroner 


102 


THE   CITIZEN   AND  THE   REPUBLIC 


The  Land  Sys- 
tem:   The 
Congressional 
Township 


is  usually  elected  by  popular  vote.      As  a  rule  he  succeeds 
to  the  office  of  Sheriff  in  case  of  a  vacancy  in  that  office. 

A  County  Surveyor  is  provided  for  in  some  States  to  make 
surveys  of  land  and  highways. 

The  County-township  System 

The  County-township  system  is  a  mixed  or  compromise 
system  of  local  government,  between  the  Southern  county 
and  the  New  England  town.  The  township  of  the  Middle 
West,  which  corresponds,  in  a  way,  to  the  town  of  New 
England,  had  its  beginning  in  the  Ordinance  of  1785,  which 
provided  for  the  survey  and  sale  of  western  lands  ceded  to 
the  United  States  by  the  several  States  that  had  claim  to 
these  lands.  By  this  Ordinance  the  public  domain  in  the 
Old  Northwest  was  divided,  or  surveyed,  into  townships, 
each  six  miles  square,  each  township  containing  36  sections 
of  640  acres  each,  a  section  being  a  mile  square.  This  system 
enabled  the  settlers,  or  "homesteaders,"  to  locate  their 
claims  with  ease  and  accuracy,  the  sections  being  located  by 
north  and  south  lines  or  ranges.  Each  section  is  easily  sub- 
divided into  tracts  of  320,  160,  80,  and  40  acres.  It  was  the 
Ordinance  of  17S5  which  provided  that  one  section  (the  six- 
teenth, near  the  center)  in  every  township  should  be  reserved, 
to  be  afterwards  sold  for  the  support  of  public  schools.  This 
was  the  basis  of  the  Congressional  Township  School  Fund 
for  these  States,  a  rich  legacy  for  school  purposes.  It  was 
also  provided  that  a  whole  township  in  each  State  to  be  subse- 
quently admitted  to  the  Union  should  be  reserved  for  a  univer- 
sity. This  became  the  early  support  for  the  State  Universities 
of  the  Northwest,  where  the  great  State  Universities  took 
their  rise. 

As  new  States  were  formed  in  the  Northwest  the  county 
plan  of  local  government  was  first  adopted,  owing  to  the 
scattered  population  and  because  the  earliest  settlers  were 
largely  from  the  South.     But  as  the  township  laid  out  by  the 


COMMUNITY  AND  CITIZEN:    LOCAL  GOVERNMENT     103 

Congressional  survey  was  recognized  for  school  purposes  it 
was  made  a  political  or  civil  unit  in  the  local  government  of 
these  States,  for  the  purpose  of  attending  to  local  schools, 
building  roads,  caring  for  the  poor,  and  preserving  order  by 
means  of  justices  of  the  peace  and  constables.  The  township 
government  grew  up  about  the  local  schoolhouse  as  that  of 
the  New  England  town  about  the  church.  The  school  dis- 
tricts in  the  western  township  grew  in  number  as  the  township 
grew  in  population.  Later  settlers  coming  to  the  West  from 
New  England  and  the  Middle  States  (New  York,  Pennsylvania, 
New  Jersey),  following  lines  of  latitude,  as  a  rule,  settled  in 
Michigan,  Wisconsin,  Iowa,  Northern  Indiana,  and  Illinois. 
These  had  been  used  to  the  town  system  of  local  government. 
The  New  York  system  of  town  (or  township)  Supervisors 
made  these  town  officers  members  of  a  county  board  for  super- 
vising county  affairs.  The  Pennsylvania  system  emphasized 
the  county  as  the  basic  unit  for  local  government.  It  sub- 
ordinated the  township  and  provided  for  a  Board  of  County 
Commissioners  to  take  care  of  county  affairs,  elected  by  the 
county  at  large  or  in  a  district  of  townships.  These  two 
systems  came  into  the  West,  one  type  prevailing  in  the  northern 
tier  of  Western  States  and  the  other  in  the  Southern  tier, 
and  in  most  of  the  Western  States  they  are  now  combined  into 
what  is  called  the  county-township  system.  That  is,  both  the 
county  and  the  township  are  used  as  important  agencies  in  local 
government. 

The  Township  Trustee,  or  Supervisor,  is  one  of  the  most  Township 
important  of  local  officers.  He  is  the  business  manager  of 
the  Township,  has  charge  of  its  funds,  and,  in  some  States, 
may  levy  assessments,  appoint  teachers  for  the  rural  schools 
of  the  township,  and  is  overseer  of  the  poor  and  of  the 
business  of  poor  relief.  Some  States  provide  for  a  Town- 
ship Board  to  levy  taxes  and  control  expenditures  and 
Township  Assessors  and  Clerks  to  attend  to  the  duties 
related  to  such  offices. 


104 


THE  CITIZEN   AND  THE   REPUBLIC 


Importance  of 

Rural 

Government 


Road  Building 
and  the  State 


Benefits  of  Local  Government 

In  spite  of  the  great  and  rapid  growth  of  cities  in  America, 
the  majority  of  our  people  still  live  in  rural  communities. 
There  may  still  be  found  the  more  stable  elements  of  our  people, 
the  "bone  and  sinew  of  the  land."  From  the  country  come  the 
best  lives  and  the  best  blood  for  the  up-building  of  our  cities. 
Good  government  for  our  rural  townships  is  as  important  as 
good  government  for  our  cities.  The  improvement  in  country 
schools,  the  growth  of  libraries,  agricultural  extension  courses, 
Chautauqua  courses,  neighborhood  meetings  and  community 
festivals,  civic  clubs  and  their  discussions,  farmers'  institutes 
and  the  county  agricultural  agents,  —  all  these  influences 
are  arousing  a  new  civic  life  in  the  rural  districts.  The  demand 
is  rising  that  the  taxes  which  the  farmers  pay  for  good  roads 
and  good  schools  and  good  government  should  show  in  the 
actual  presence  of  these  benefits.  The  movement  for  good 
roads  illustrates  the  new  growth  of  a  vigorous  civic  spirit. 

Road  building  as  a  public  enterprise  has  been  a  wasteful 
extravagance  in  the  past.  Roads  were  formerly  left  to  private 
enterprise  or  to  local  enterprise.  Now  it  is  coming  to  be  recog- 
nized that  road  building  is  the  business  of  the  State  and  the 
nation.  The  old  private  turnpike,  with  its  toll  gate,  at  which 
toll  was  collected  for  every  trip  to  town,  is  now  only  a  lingering 
memory.  In  some  States  the  county  and  township  still  have 
charge  of  road  building  and  road  improvement.  Many 
States  have  not  yet  taken  hold  of  this  problem;  they  have 
established  no  public  policy,  no  engineering  plan,  no  rural  high- 
ways or  best  routes.  The  State  always  has  the  power  by  the 
exercise  of  the  right  of  eminent  domain  (a  sovereign  right  of  the 
State)  to  determine  through  one  of  its  courts  a  reasonable  price 
to  be  paid  for  private  property  and  then  to  condemn  this  prop- 
erty for  public  use,  if  the  owners  refuse  to  sell  it  to  the  public 
at  a  price  fixed  by  fair  referees  or  umpires.  In  this  way  the 
State  may  lay  out  a  road  and  private  interests  must  give  way. 


COMMUNITY  AND  CITIZEN:    LOCAL  GOVERNMENT     105 


Road  making  has  now  become  a  science.  Farmers  used  to 
be  allowed  to  "work  out  their  road  taxes"  by  a  certain  number 
of  days'  labor,  with  or  without  teams.  It  was  slip-shod  work; 
the  roads  were  often  made  worse  rather  than  better.  It  is 
now  recognized  that  the  cities  and  the  richer  portions  of  the 
State  should  help  the  poorer  sections  in  the  building  of  roads. 
The  whole  State  is  interested  in  the  avenues  connecting  its 
several  parts,  facilitating  transportation  and  communication. 
Roads  to  the  State  are  like  the  arteries  to  the  human  body. 
There  should  be  cooperation  between  locality  and  State,  the 
county  and  township  receiving  from  the  State  treasury  money 
aid  somewhat  in  proportion  to  what  the  local  district  is  able 
and  willing  to  pay. 

With  good  roads  and  good  schools  and  other  agencies  for 
moral  and  civic  education  the  rural  communities  will  insist 
on  law  and  order  and  good  government.  If  every  man  sweeps 
the  front  of  his  own  dooryard,  the  city  will  be  clean.  So  if 
the  country  people  can  govern  themselves  well  in  every  town- 
ship in  the  land  the  nation  will  be  well  taken  care  of.  But  if, 
on  the  other  hand,  the  people  have  not  enough  force,  intel- 
ligence, and  patriotism  to  take  care  of  their  own  taxes  and 
improvements  and  to  provide  for  themselves  good  local 
officers  for  the  sake  of  honest  and  decent  government  near  their 
own  homes  they  will  not  do  much  good  in  helping  to  govern  the 
nation  at  large. 

As  the  city  depends  on  the  country  for  its  foodstuffs  and 
suppHes,  so  the  country  people  depend  on  the  cities  for  many 
of  their  conveniences  and  means  of  living.  The  trolley  cars 
and  telephones  and  mail  orders  are  managed  in  the  cities  and 
most  of  the  supphes  and  nearly  all  the  wearing  apparel  of  the 
country  people  are  made  in  the  great  factories  and  are  put 
up  in  the  big  supply  houses  of  the  cities.  We  are  all  interested 
aUke  in  the  good  government,  the  state  of  taxes,  and  the 
conditions  of  labor  in  the  great  centers  of  population.  The 
prices  and  the  quality  of  goods  bought,  and  the  health  of 


Good 

Government  In 
the  Nation 
depends  on 
Good  Local 
Government 


Connection 
between 
Country  and 
City 


io6 


THE   CITIZEN   AND  THE   REPUBLIC 


the  consumers,  may  depend  on  these  things.  Railway  rates; 
the  conditions  at  grade  crossings;  telephone  charges;  the 
control  of  trusts;  the  kind  of  money  we  have;  interest  rates 
on  farm  mortgages  (mostly  held  in  cities) ;  whether  banks  and 
trust  companies  are  well  managed;  whether  transportation  is 
easy  or  difficult;  whether  wheat  is  "cornered,"  or  meat  prices 
fixed  by  combinations,  —  in  all  these  things  the  farmers  are 
just  as  much  interested  as  city  people.  Most  of  these  things 
depend,  in  large  measure,  on  honest  and  faithful  government, 
on  whether  or  not  the  officers  act  for  the  benefit  of  a  few  or  for 
the  welfare  of  all.  Therefore  the  farmers  should  be  constantly 
and  vitally  interested  in  matters  relating  to  taxes,  roads, 
illiteracy  and  crime,  poverty,  the  evils  of  the  saloon,  health 
laws,  causes  of  disease,  conditions  among  foreign  laborers, 
freight  and  passenger  rates,  reforestation,  and  the  use  of 
waste  lands.  Rural  voters  and  city  voters  are  mutually 
interested  and  they  should  act  together  to  work  for  progress 
and  betterment  in  all  these  respects. 

In  these  days  of  modern  improvements,  of  better  roads, 
of  easier  travel  and  communication,  with  the  rural  telephones, 
automobiles,  and  electric  railways,  there  is  a  tendency  to 
organize  community  centers  in  the  country.  In  some  States 
and  counties  the  farming  people  live  in  villages  or  small 
centers  of  population  and  they  go  out  to  manage  their  farms 
in  the  day,  which  may  be  several  miles  away.  In  this  way 
the  farmers'  families  escape  isolation  and  may  enjoy  the 
social  life  and  the  better  educational  opportunities  that  may 
come  from  the  neighborhood  group.  School  districts  may  be 
united,  and  the  country  children  may  be  brought  to  school 
from  long  distances  and  taken  back  home  by  public  con- 
veyances at  the  least  possible  expense;  a  good  high  school 
may  be  established;  circulating  libraries  may  be  maintained; 
playgrounds  and  healthy  recreations  for  the  country  boys 
and  girls  may  be  promoted;  the  gangs  of  "toughs"  may  be 
restrained;    public  utiUties  —  lighting  and  water  —  may  be 


■  i^f'^'-W"  ^/^^  •■at    .'i'  ^  *#■'  "ai'.V 


A  Road  before  and  after  Impro\'ement 


h4 


COMMUNITY   AND   CITIZEN:    LOCAL  GOVERNMENT     107 

better  supplied;  entertainments,  public  meetings,  addresses 
and  exhibitions,  folk  dances  and  moving  picture  shows  may 
be  enjoyed,  and  all  kinds  of  social  and  public  activities  may 
be  better  exercised.  It  is  proposed  that  the  community 
center  may  be  made  the  means  of  organizing  a  cooperative 
enterprise  for  buying  and  selling  among  country  people. 
The  schoolhouse,  even  where  there  are  not  populous  villages, 
may  become  the  social  center  where  mutual  benefits  may  be 
enjoyed  and  where  the  light  may  shine  for  all.  Village 
conditions  may  be  improved;  a  "clean-up  week"  may  put 
the  streets  and  sidewalks  and  yards  in  better  shape;  tumble- 
down shanties  and  outhouses  may  be  removed,  noxious  weeds 
cut  down,  and  farm  homes  and  the  countryside  may  be 
beautified;  and  thus  the  attractions  and  good  government  in 
rural  life  may  make  the  country  the  most  desirable  of  all  places 
in  which  to  live. 

TOPICS  AND   PROBLEMS 

For  "original  research"  in  "Community  Civics"  the  student  may  be 
asked  to  report  on  some  such  inquiry  as  the  following: 

1.  What  have  political  parties  to  do  with  local  community  affairs? 

2.  How  are  the  taxes  assessed,  collected,  and  expended?     Do  ail  persons 

in  the  community  pay  taxes?     Why? 

3.  IIow  may  the  smoke  and  dirt  nuisance  be  abated  in  the  city?  or  the 

roadside  or  school  grounds  be  beautified  in  the  country? 

4.  IIow  should  the  local  press  help  to  promote  the  welfare  of  the  com- 

munity?    What    other    agencies    may    be    used    for    community 
betterment? 

5.  What  need  is  there  in  your  community  for  better  housing? 

6.  IIow  does  the  State  help  the  local  community  in  protecting  life  and 

property? 

7.  How  can  public  spirit  be  cultivated  in  a  community?     Or,  how  can 

more   citizens   be   induced   to   take   an   interest   in   public   affairs 
from  unselfish  public  motives? 

8.  Debate:    "Resolved  that  local  self-government  is   more  important 

and  beneficial  to  the  people  than  the  growth  of  national  powers." 

9.  In  what  ways  is  the  election  of  a  Township  Trustee  or  a  County 

Commissioner  more  important  to  the  people  than  the  election  of 
the  President  of  the  United  States? 

10.  How  may  a  "community  center"  be  of  service  to  the  community? 

How  can  you  help  the  "  center  "? 


lo8  THE  CITIZEN   AND  THE   REPUBLIC 

The  teacher  should  make  up  a  set  of  questions  especially  adapted 
to  the  county  and  township  in  which  the  school  is  located,  such  as, 
In  what  county  do  you  live?  What  is  the  origin  of  its  name?  What 
are  its  leading  industries?  Its  population?  Its  area?  Its  boundaries? 
Its  county  seat?  What  counties  border  upon  it?  What  county  in 
the  State  has  the  largest  area?  The  smallest?  What  is  the  debt  of 
your  county?  The  tax  rate  in  your  county,  etc.?  See  Clark's  Out- 
lines of  Civics. 

REFERENCES 

Ashley,  Roscoe  L.    The  American  Federal  Slate,  Chap.  20,  pp.  386-402. 
Beard,  C.  A.    American  Government  and  Politics,   Chap.   29,  pp.   638- 

655.     "Local  Rural  Government." 
Beard,  C.  A.    Readings  in  American  Government  and  Politics,  Chap.  29, 

pp.  556-566. 
Bryce,  James.    American  Commonwealth,  Vol.  I,  Chap.  48,  pp.  596-616. 
Clark,  Frederick  H.    Outlines    of    Civics,    Chap.    XVI,    pp.     146-163. 

Topics  and  Questions  on  "Local  Institutions." 
Fairlie,  John  A.    Local  Government   in   Counties,    Towns   and    Villages. 

A  volume  of  272  pages  on  local  government. 
Fiske,  John.    Civil  Government,  Chaps.  Ill,  IV,  and  pp.  48-98. 
Forman,  S.  E.  Advanced  Civics,  Chaps.  26-28,  pp.  195-214. 
Guitteau,  William  B.   Government   and    Politics   in  the    U.   S.,    Chaps. 
II  and  III,  pp.  14-37.     "Origin,  Structure  and  Functions  of  Local 
Rural  Government." 
Hart,   A.   B.    Actual    Government,     Chap.     10,     pp.     167-179,     "Local 
Government  in  Action." 

In  "Community  Civics"  the  student  must  find  his  references 
in  the  civil  life  of  the  community.  He  may  not  only  study  real  com- 
munity life  as  it  is,  but  he  may  become  a  useful  part  in  that  life.  For 
suggestions  and  topics,  apart  from  this  text-book,  consult  the  fol- 
lowing: 

A.  W.  Dunn's  The  Community  and  the  Citizen. 

Hughes,  R.  O.,  "Community  Civics"  (1918). 

Public  Service  is  a  leaflet  published  weekly  (50  cents  a  year,  51 
Chambers  Street,  New  York)  which  gives  vital  suggestions  on  cur- 
rent questions  and  civic  problems.  Equity,  published  quarterly, 
50  cents  per  year  (1520  Chestnut  Street,  Philadelphia),  is  "devoted 
to  improved  processes  of  self-government  and  whatever  methods  tend 
to  increase  efificiency  and  democratic  control  in  national,  state,  and 
city  government." 

The  publications  of  the  "American  Civic  Association"  deal  with 
city  planning  and  community  life,  in  town  and  country,  and  they  may 
be  had  for  prices  from  5  cents  to  25  cents  (914  Union  Trust  Building, 
Washington,  D.  C). 


COMMUNITY  AND   CITIZEN:    LOCAL  GOVERNMENT     109 

A  Handbook  of  Civic  Improvement,  by  Hermann  G.  James,  and 
Bulletin  No.  28,  U.  S.  Bureau  of  Education  on  "The  Social  Studies  in 
Secondary  Education." 

Further  treatment  of  community  civics  is  found  in  the  chapters 
of  this  text  on  "City  Government,"  "The  Citizen:  His  Rights  and 
Duties,"  "Present-day  Problems  in  Democracy."  Ample  refer- 
ences follow  these  chapters.  For  "How  to  obtain  Further  Informa- 
tion," see  p.  397. 


How  many 
People  make 
a  City 


The  Problem 
of  the  City 


City  Life  in 
America 


CHAPTER   V 
CITY   GOVERNMENT 

The  city  is  the  village  grown  large.  How  large  must  it  be 
to  make  a  city?  The  United  States  Census  Bureau  recognizes 
a  population  of  8000  as  the  necessary  minimum.  Some  States 
will  incorporate  a  population  of  1000,  within  a  limited  area, 
and  make  it  a  legal  city;  others  require  5000.  As  the  city 
grows  in  population  its  government  becomes  more  complex 
and  special  provision  is  needed  for  it.  It  cannot  be  governed 
by  a  gathering  of  its  voters,  like  a  town  meeting.  It  must 
have  a  special  charter  (or  some  provision  of  law),  organizing 
its  government,  conferring  upon  it  special  powers  and  privi- 
leges, providing  for  certain  officers  and  public  boards  and 
defining  their  duties. 

A  multitude  of  affairs  and  problems  have  come  upon  the 
city  which  the  towns  and  rural  districts  have  never  known,  and 
city  government  has  become  so  difficult  and  unsatisfactory 
that  one  writer  has  called  it  "the  one  conspicuous  failure  of 
the  United  States."  i- 

Remarkable   Growth  of  Cities 

One  of  the  most  remarkable  facts  in  our  recent  history  has 
been  the  growth  of  our  cities.  In  1789  there  were  but  six 
cities  in  America  with  a  population  above  8000,  and  there  was 
only  one  with  a  population  of  as  much  as  33,000.  Less  than 
four  per  cent,  or  one  twenty-fifth,  of  the  people  lived  in  cities. 

^  Bryce.  These  problems  and  failures  have  come  partly  because 
of  the  rapid  growth  of  our  cities,  partly  because  of  the  character  of 
their  populations,  and  partly  because  of  their  complex  industrial  and 
social  conditions. 


CITY  GOVERNMENT  ill 

The  people  lived  in  the  country  or  in  small  towns  and  villages. 
Now,  according  to  the  census  of  1910,  there  are  more  than 
five  hundred  cities  each  having  a  population  of  at  least  8000, 
and  there  are  more  than  fifty  with  a  population  of  over 
100,000.  Nearly  half  of  all  the  people  live  in  cities;  and  in 
some  States,  like  Rhode  Island  and  Massachusetts,  about 
nine  tenths  of  the  people  live  in  cities.  New  York  City  has 
a  greater  population  than  all  the  rest  of  New  York  State, 
and  nearly  a  million  and  a  half  more  than  all  the  State  of 
Indiana  together.  Moreover,  this  growth  has  been  so  rapid 
that  it  has  been  almost  impossible  for  the  cities  to  adapt 
themselves  to  it  and  meet  their  increasing  needs. 

New  York  City  grew  from  a  population  of  about  50,000 
to  over  4,000,000  in  a  hundred  years.  In  a  little  more  than 
ten  years,  (1900  to  1910)  Detroit  received  nearly  500,000  of 
new  population,  owing  largely  to  the  automobile  industry. 
In  the  same  time  Schenectady,  New  York,  more  than 
doubled  its  population.  There  are  many  other  striking  cases 
of  rapid  increase.  Within  the  memory  of  men  born  and  still 
living  within  her  limits,  Chicago  has  changed  from  a  little 
prairie  village  to  a  teeming  center  of  more  than  2,500,000 
people. 

And  it  must  be  remembered  that  from  one  fourth  to  one 

.   .  Character  of 

third  of  the  people  in  many  of  these  great  cities  are  people  city  Population 
of  foreign  birth,  many  of  them  unable  to  speak  the  EngUsh 
tongue.  Large  numbers  of  all  races  and  nationalities  are 
segregated  in  groups  and  districts;  the  populations  are  con- 
stantly shifting  and  the  people  in  the  same  block  are  often 
unknown  to  one  another.  The  criminal  classes  have  their 
dives  in  the  city;  the  dependent  poor  are  more  numerous; 
there  is  a  wider  division  between  the  rich  and  the  poor  and 
a  sharper  conflict  between  classes,  whose  methods,  conditions, 
and  ideals  of  life  are  very  different.  So,  altogether,  the  city 
presents  quite  a  different  problem  from  that  of  the  town  or 
country  district. 


112  THE  CITIZEN   AND  THE   REPUBLIC 

Causes  of  There  are  many  reasons  why  the  city  has  outgrown  the 

city  Growth  -'  j  ^  o 

country  in  population.  The  increased  immigration  has  come 
mostly  to  the  cities  (see  pp.  67-73).  Sanitary  conditions  have 
been  improved,  so  that  the  death  rate  has  been  lowered,  and 
the  population  increases  from  within  as  well  as  from  without. 
Labor-saving  machinery  for  the  farms  has  made  it  possible 
that  fewer  people  are  required  to  stay  in  the  country  to 
cultivate  the  land.  Cities  are  the  centers  of  trade,  of 
business  opportunities,  of  shipping  and  manufacturing. 
Increased  transportation  facilities,  the  growth  of  steam 
and  electric  railways,  the  increased  use  of  machinery  and  the 
rise  of  great  factories  and  commercial  houses,  —  these  in- 
fluences have  promoted  city  growth  by  leading  to  an  increased 
demand  for  city  workers. 

Within  twenty  years,  while  foreign  immigration  has  been 
at  high  tide,  our  country  has  undergone  an  economic  develop- 
ment so  wonderful  that  it  is  almost  impossible  for  the  mind 
to  grasp  it.  In  this  period  our  population  has  increased 
about  50  per  cent,  but  within  ten  years  the  output  of  our 
factories  has  more  than  doubled,  while  within  the  period  of 
twenty  years  the  production  of  coal  (the  means  and  measure 
of  this  economic  activity)  has  increased  three  times  as  fast  as 
the  population.  This  means  that  our  increased  population 
has  been  drawn  rapidly  and  constantly  to  the  industrial 
centers  where  this  economic  activity  has  had  its  life,  —  in 
the  factories,  in  the  stores,  in  trade,  in  shipping,  and  in  all 
building  occupations.  Moreover,  young  people  leave  the 
farms  and  smaller  towns  on  account  of  the  greater  oppor- 
tunities and  attractions  in  the  cities,  —  there  are  better 
schools,  larger  churches,  better  theaters,  more  amusements, 
conveniences,  and  social  pleasures.  These  are  some  of  the 
influences  that  have  led  to  city  growth. 
Undesirable  -p]^g  result  of  all  this  is  that  the  greatest  cities  have  become 

Conditions  In  i  i         i     i  i  • 

City  Life  overcrowded.     The  people  are  herded   together  m  compact 

masses;    there  is  hardly  breathing  room;  and  while  wealth 


CITY  GOVERNMENT  1 13 

increases  for  a  few  the  many  suffer  poverty.  City  land 
values  are  abnormally  high  and  comparatively  few  people  can 
own  their  homes.^  They  have,  therefore,  less  interest  in  the 
community  and  are  less  disposed  to  promote  its  order  and 
good  government.  Overworked  and  underfed  toilers  live 
in  poor  tenements  and  work  under  hard  and  unhealthy  con- 
ditions. If,  as  is  the  case  in  some  of  our  cities,  four  or  five 
persons  have  to  live  in  one  room  and  fifteen  or  twenty  in  one 
tenement  house,  and  1000  persons  to  the  acre,  and  nearly 
300,000  persons  to  the  square  mile,  —  they  cannot  so  live  with- 
out danger  to  their  health,  comfort,  and  morals.  So,  as  we 
see,  extremes  come  to  meet  in  our  cities.  Progress  and 
poverty  are  found  together,  —  high  living  and  a  ceaseless 
struggle  for  a  bare  existence.  On  the  one  hand  we  find  all  the 
comforts,  conveniences,  pleasures,  and  luxuries  of  life,  while 
near  by  one  finds  the  most  degraded  and  wretched  misery. 
Here  we  find  the  millionaires,  the  helpless  tenants,  and  the 
tramps;  the  rich  capitalists,  the  Socialists,  and  the  anarchists. 
Witnessing  these  conditions,  many  persons  have  come  to  look 
upon  our  cities  as  dangerous  places,  like  "plague  spots"  in 
our  national  life,  as  the  haunts  of  the  dangerous  and  criminal 
classes,  both  the  criminal  rich  and  the  criminal  poor.  Conse- 
quently, a  movement  has  begun  to  encourage  population  to  go  ^^^  '^wo  the 
to  the  country.  Electric  lines  enable  people  to  live  in  the  Farm" 
country  and  do  business  in  the  city;  country  life  is  made 
more  attractive;  good  roads  are  built;  the  telephone  reaches 
to  the  farmhouses;  rural  mail  routes  are  established;  social 
centers  are  formed;  good  central  high  schools  are  provided; 
farming  knowledge,  facilities,  and  profits  are  increased,  — 
these  and  other  influences  are  urged  as  reasons  why  people 
should  go  "back  to  the  farm." 

'  By  the  Census  of  1900  more  than  64  per  cent  of  the  families  of  the 
United  States  living  on  farms  owned  their  own  homes,  while  in  New 
York  City  the  proportion  was  only  from  6  to  12  per  cent. 


1 14 


THE  CITIZEN  AND  THE   REPUBLIC 


The  increasing 
Business  of 
the  City 
Government 


Problems  of  City  Government 

In  spite  of  all  these  influences  city  populations  of  all  sorts  and 
conditions  of  men  continue  to  increase,  and  the  city  finds  itself 
forced  to  attend  to  a  multitude  of  things.  It  has  to  arrest  and 
punish  crime;  assess  taxes  and  regulate  city  finances;  protect 
city  property;  abate  nuisances;  prevent  the  use  of  firearms 
and  fireworks  that  might  be  dangerous  to  persons  or  property, 
or  the  storage  of  inflammable  powder  or  oil,  or  other  com- 
bustible materials;  it  regulates  the  erection  of  high  chimneys 
and  smokestacks,  and  requires  the  inspection  of  gas  pipes, 
drainage,  and  electric  wires.  The  city  government  is  expected 
to  afford  police  protection;  care  for  the  public  health  and  pre- 
vent disease;  provide  a  good  water  supply;  protect  the  people 
against  poor  milk  and  adulterated  food;  afford  fire  protection; 
provide  for  public  lighting;  attend  to  culverts  and  bridges 
and  street-paving  and  improvements,  and  keep  the  sidewalks 
in  repair;  license  and  regulate  all  kinds  of  street  traffic;  and 
enforce  the  speed  limit  on  automobiles,  so  pedestrians  may 
cross  the  street  in  safety;  provide  and  regulate  transportation 
facilities;  regulate  sewage  and  the  disposal  of  garbage;  and, 
in  addition  to  all  these  matters  of  material  interest,  the  city 
undertakes  to  maintain  schools,  libraries,  hospitals,  and 
museums. 

All  these  things  are  matters  for  the  government  of  the 
city  to  attend  to.  When  we  think  of  so  many  city  ac- 
tivities, we  see  how  complex  and  miscellaneous  is  the  busi- 
ness of  making  laws  for  a  city  and  administering  its  affairs. 
We  are  made  to  realize  how,  where  so  many  people  are  living 
together,  the  interest  and  freedom  of  the  individual  citizen 
must  be  subordinate  to  the  welfare  of  the  community.  It 
will  easily  be  seen  that  if  the  city  government  is  bad,  neglectful, 
and  inefficient,  some  of  the  most  vital  interests  of  the  people 
will  suffer.  Good  government  for  the  city  may  almost  be 
said  to  be  a  matter  of  fife  and  death  for  its  people. 


CITY  GOVERNMENT 


115 


Because  of  their  necessities  cities  are  given  many  powers 
of  independent  government.  Yet  the  State  laws  determine 
in  the  main  what  the  city  may  do  and  how  it  shall  be  governed, 
what  officers  the  city  may  have,  what  their  duties  are,  how 
its  taxes  are  to  be  raised  and  its  business  administered.  All 
the  laws  and  privileges  controlling  the  cities  have  to  be 
obtained  from  the  State  legislatures. 

In  our  State  legislatures  there  are  many  country  members 
who  know  from  experience  and  observation  very  little  about 
the  needs  of  large  cities.  The  country  member  can  have 
neither  the  interest  nor  the  knowledge  to  lead  him  to  be  a 
wise  law-giver  for  the  city.  This  practice  of  letting  the  State 
legislature  govern  the  city  has  come  down  from  the  time  when 
there  were  no  large  cities  and  no  special  city  problems,  from 
the  days  when  "uniform  laws"  for  all  the  communities  of  the 
State  were  reasonable  enough,  because  conditions  were  nearly 
uniform  in  all  parts  and  all  communities  of  the  State.  -But 
the  modern  city  with  its  public  utilities,  complex  activities, 
and  numerous  functions  needs  very  different  laws  and  regu- 
lations from  those  of  a  rural  community.  The  city's  interests, 
evils,  and  problems  are  now  entirely  different.  PubUc  utili- 
ties, special  privileges,  party  machines,  the  liquor  interests, 
and  other  evil  influences  that  wish  to  control  the  cities,  are 
willing  to  keep  them  in  bondage  to  the  legislatures,  since 
these  influences  by  their  control  of  the  political  managers 
can  more  easily  control  the  people.  The  consequence 
is  that  thousands  of  dollars  of  the  city  tax-payers' 
money  are  wasted  and  private  interests  are  permitted  to 
reap  unfair  gains.  In  some  of  the  larger  cities  the  financial 
budgets  and  expenses  of  their  government  are  larger  than  the 
revenues  of  the  State  governments  under  which  these  cities 
exist.  From  1903  to  1913  the  moneys  raised  and  expended 
by  New  York  City  were  over  four  times  as  great  as  those 
of  New  York  State.  In  191 1  and  191 2,  Chicago's  govern- 
ment was  84  per  cent  more  costly  than  the  government  of 


Home  Rule 
for  Cities: 
Should  the 
State  govern 
the  City? 


Evils  in 

keeping    Cities 
in  Bondage  to 
State 
Legislatures 


Ii6  THE   CITIZEN   AND  THE   REPUBLIC 

Illinois.  The  greater  part  of  the  people's  taxes  come  upon 
them  for  city  and  local  purposes.  Does  it  not  appear  right 
that  cities  should  be  allowed  to  find  their  own  sources  of 
revenue  and  to  determine  for  themselves  their  ways  and  means 
of  improvement? 

So  it  is  contended  that  there  should  be  "home  rule"  for 
cities,  which  means  that  in  matters  of  purely  city  interests 
the  city  should  be  allowed  to  govern  itself;  that  in  its  local 
affairs  the  city  should  be  entirely  removed  from  the  legislature 
and  its  management  be  put  into  the  hands  of  its  own  people, 
the  city  being  allowed  to  provide  its  own  improvements,  to 
raise  and  expend  its  own  taxes  in  its  own  way,  and  that  the 
State  should  interfere  as  little  as  possible  in  matters  of  purely 
local  concern.  Some  States  have  already  provided,  and  all 
States  ought  to  provide,  that  a  city  may  by  a  vote  of  its  people 
adopt  a  home  rule  charter  allowing  the  city  to  govern  itself  in 
this'way.  This  would  be  a  great  relief  to  the  legislature  and 
to  the  people  of  the  State  at  large,  because  usually  at  every 
session  of  the  legislature  (which  is  elected  to  attend  to  the 
business  of  the  whole  State)  a  large  part  of  the  time  of  that 
body  is  taken  up  in  considering  the  internal  affairs  of  certain 
cities  about  which  most  of  the  legislators  know  little  and  care 
less.  Cities  should  be  given  local  self-government  in  harmony 
with  long-standing  American  principles. 
Unity  and  -pj-^jg  ^[„]^i  of  home  rulc  for  cities,  or  the  right  of  local  self- 

Control   of   the  ^  ,  ,  ,  .  i        i  i    i 

State  in  Local  government,  does  not  mean,  however,  that  a  city  should  be 
Government  jgfj^  alone  to  do  as  it  plcases,  or  as  its  people  may  decide  in  all 
respects.  Its  home  rule  charter  and  its  laws  must  be  in  har- 
mony with  the  laws  and  constitution  of  the  State.  The  city 
may  have  a  natural  growth  and  life  of  its  own  and  its  people 
should  be  allowed  to  govern  themselves,  but  only  in  respect 
to  those  matters  in  which  the  whole  State  is  not  concerned. 
The  same  principle  holds  good  in  the  local  self-government 
of  cities  as  in  the  local  self-government  of  States.  As  no 
State  has  a  right  to  govern  itself  in  such  a  way  as  to  endanger 


CITY  GOVERNMENT  117 

the  peace  and  safety  or  common  welfare  of  the  whole  nation, 
so  no  city  may  disregard  the  common  welfare  and  laws  of  the 
State.  The  city  is  still  an  agent  of  the  State  for  doing  certain 
things.  The  State  should  see  to  it  that  neither  city  nor  county 
should  be  left  alone  to  permit  crime,  to  neglect  the  public 
health,  or  to  hcense  practices  that  promote  poverty,  im- 
morahty,  degradation,  and  disease.  There  is  much  dispute 
as  to  whether  a  State  legislature  should  pass  laws  regulating 
the  hours  of  opening  and  closing  saloons  in  cities,  or  whether 
that  should  be  left  to  the  local  sentiment  of  the  cities  them- 
selves. Within  certain  limits  the  State  legislature  must  make 
laws  for  the  control  of  cities,  while  the  city  is  entitled  to  repre- 
sentation in  the  legislature.  The  city  cannot  cut  itself  off 
entirely  from  the  rest  of  the  State  and  be  independent. 

The  State  is  a  pohtical  unit  and  cannot  be  broken  up  into 
independent  parts.  The  whole  State  of  New  York,  or  of  Il- 
linois, is  interested  in  how  New  York  City  or  Chicago  is  gov- 
erned; how  the  city  elections  are  conducted;  whether  its  votes 
are  fairly  cast  and  counted;  whether  the  city  harbors  criminals 
or  fosters  vice;  whether  its  representatives  in  the  State  leg- 
islature are  political  grafters  and  crooks  and  unscrupulous 
bosses,  or  are  honest  men  and  upright  citizens.  How  the 
cities  are  governed  is  of  concern  to  the  State.  If  the  cities  are 
to  help  make  laws  for  the  State,  the  State  must  be  consulted 
as  to  the  general  laws  that  are  to  govern  the  city.  While  the 
State  should  not  interfere  with  the  purely  local  matters  of  the 
city,  yet  the  State  must  determine  what  shall  be  regarded 
as  crimes  against  society;  what  institutions  affecting  the  life 
and  welfare  of  the  people  shall  be  tolerated;  how  the  elective 
franchise  shall  be  safeguarded;  and  what  shall  be  done  to 
promote  the  interest  of  the  State  as  a  whole  in  the  conduct 
and  government  of  the  city. 


ii8 


THE  CITIZEN   AND  THE   REPUBLIC 


r  Revenues 


Common  Type  of  City  Government 

American  cities  have  generally  had  their  governments 
divided  Uke  our  State  and  national  governments  into  three 
divisions  of  government,  —  legislative,  executive,  judicial. 
This  has  been  the  ordinary  type  of  city  government. 

The  City  Council,  or  Board  of  Aldermen,  is  the  legislative 
branch  of  the  city  government,  and  acting  with  the  Mayor, 
it  attends  to  all  the  business  of  the  city  that  we  have  named 
(see  p.  114),  or  appoints  Boards  or  agents  to  do  so.  The 
Councilmen  are  usually  elected  to  represent  the  different  wards 
of  the  city  for  terms  of  from  one  to  four  years,  though  in  some 
cities  the  councilmen,  or  a  part  of  them,  are  elected  from  the 
city  at  large.  The  City  Council  is  generally  a  one-house  body, 
though  some  councils  have  two  houses. 

The  Mayor  is  the  chief  executive  officer  of  the  city.  He  is 
elected  by  the  people  to  serve  for  a  term  of  from  one  to  four 
years  and  his  powers  are  defined  in  the  city  charter.  He 
usually  has  power  to  veto  ordinances  passed  by  the  City  Coun- 
cil and  also  the  power  to  appoint  the  heads  of  the  various 
departments  of  the  city  government.  Sometimes  his  appoint- 
ments must  be  confirmed  by  the  City  Council,  but  in  many 
cases  this  confirmation  is  not  necessary.  Many  cities  give 
the  Mayor  the  absolute  power  of  appointment  and  removal 
and  then  hold  him  responsible  for  the  government  of  the  city. 
This  plan  may  be  made  to  work  well;  it  depends  altogether 
on  the  character  of  the  mayor. 

The  work  of  the  city  government  is  usually  divided  up 
among  several  different  departments.  Prominent  among 
these  are  the  Police  Department,  the  Fire  Department,  the 
Department  of  Public  Works,  which  usually  has  charge  of  the 
streets  and  parks,  and  the  Department  of  Education. 

The  many  activities  of  the  city  make  large  amounts  of  money 
necessary.  City  taxes  are  usually  high,  but  most  of  the  tax 
money  goes,  not  to  the  State  or  County,  but  to  the  city  itself. 


CITY  GOVERNMENT 


119 


City  Expenses  and  City  Debts  * 


New  York  City  raises  more  than  $150,000,000  a  year,  and  the 
city's  expenses  are  equal  to  that  of  any  one  of  several  European 
countries,  while  the  city  debt  of  New  York  is  almost  as  large 
as  our  national  debt  be- 
fore we  entered  the  world 
war.  To  raise  and  spend 
such  large  sums  of  money 
requires  an  army  of 
officers,  —  boards,  police- 
men, assessors,  collectors, 
treasurers,  auditors,  etc. 
The  city  gets  its  revenue 
partly  from  a  general 
property  tax,  and  partly 
from  other  forms  of 
taxes,  like  licenses  on 
saloons  and  places  of 
amusement  ^"  191I1  ^93  cities  with  a  population  of 

over  30,000  each,  expended  $1,647,700,000. 

Franchises  are  now  be-    The  figures  m  the  circle  indicate  the  pro- 

cominc  a   more   lucrative    P^^'tions  and  purposes  for  which  the  money 

°  was  spent, 

source    of    city    revenue. 

A  franchise  is  a  freedom,  or  permission,  or  privilege,  to  use 
some  public  property  —  like  the  streets,  alleys,  or  sidewalks, 
or  parks,  for  some  gainful  or  commercial  purpose  or  for  a  public 
enterprise.     Gas  companies,  street  railway  companies,  lighting 

^  From  1902  to  191 1  city  expenditures  in  this  group  of  cities  increased 
from  272  millions  to  449  millions.  The  fact  that  454  millions  were  used 
for  paying  off  bonds,  or  debt  payment,  should  not  lead  us  to  think 
that  cities  are  paying  off  their  debt.  On  the  contrary  the  debts  of  this 
group  of  cities  increased  by  148  millions  in  1913.  New  bonds  offset  the 
old.  Much  of  this  indebtedness  had  come  from  building  water-supply 
systems  which  will  be  a  source  of  wealth  and  revenue.  Other  items  caus- 
ing city  debts  are  highways,  school  buildings  and  sewers.  Most  of  our 
cities  are  increasing  their  permanent  property  and  pubHc  improvements 
faster  than  their  debts.  But  when  we  consider  that  the  indebtedness  of 
the  United  States  is  only  $10.83  per  capita  (in  1913,  before  the  war), 
while  that  of  146  of  our  largest  cities  is  $67.31  per  capita,  it  is  time  to 
consider  municipal  economy. 


city 
Franchises 


120 


THE  CITIZEN   AND  THE   REPUBLIC 


City  Abuses 


Police  Abuses 


Cities  and 

Political 

Parties 


companies,  telephone  companies,  etc.,  ol^tain  franchises  to  use 
city  highways,  under  certain  conditions.  These  companies 
can  afford  to  pay  for  or  share  with  the  city  the  revenues 
coming  from  the  conduct  of  their  business,  since  the  use 
of  the  pubHc  streets  gives  value  to  their  plants.  A  Chicago 
street  railway  pays  more  than  half  its  net  receipts  to  the 
city,  and  nearly  all  cities  of  any  considerable  size  provide 
for  such  revenues.  At  times  corrupt  city  councils  have 
given  away  franchises  that  were  very  valuable,  binding  the 
city  for  forty  or  fifty  years  to  a  contract  by  which  the  in- 
terests of  the  city  were  betrayed,  money  lost,  and  taxes 
increased.  Rich  corporations  have  at  times  bribed  city  coun- 
cilmen  to  betray  their  trust  in  this  way  and  to  sacrifice  the 
city  for  private  interests. 

There  are  other  serious  abuses  that  people  in  the  cities  suffer 
to  exist.  The  police  service  is  sometimes  corrupt,  the  members 
of  the  force  accepting  money  from  gambling  houses,  saloons, 
and  other  places  of  vice  and  crime  for  allowing  these  places  to 
violate  the  law;  that  is,  the  policemen  sell  to  the  criminal 
classes  the  freedom  to  commit  crime.  This  is  always  a  low 
form  of  "graft,"  and  in  the  larger  cities  it  is  very  difficult  to 
prevent.  At  times  there  have  been  regularly  organized  sys- 
tems among  the  police  for  levying  and  collecting  money  from 
law  violators  for  allowing  them  freedom  from  arrest  and 
punishment.  The  chief  of  police  may  be  merely  the  head 
of  the  corrupt  forces  receiving  money  for  betraying  the  law- 
abiding  people  of  the  city.  The  Police  Commissioners  and 
the  Mayor  may  find  it  difficult  to  break  up  this  practice,  or 
at  times  they  may  "wink  at"  and  permit  the  abuse  and 
share  in  the  illicit  gains.  Such  practices,  of  course,  tend  to 
disorder,  anarchy,  and  the  undermining  of  all  law. 

Efforts  have  been  made  in  recent  years  to  separate  city 
government  from  questions  of  party  politics.  There  is  no 
real  relation  between  the  matters  that  cities  deal  with  and  the 
issues  dividing  political  parties  in  State  and  national  affairs. 


CITY  GOVERNMENT  121 

Yet  the  vital  problems  of  the  city  have  not  been  allowed  to  be 
considered  on  their  merits,  because  the  national  parties  have 
organized  their  city  party  machines,  conducted  city  primaries 
and  conventions,  have  nominated  party  candidates  for  city 
offices,  and  in  city  elections  have  sought  to  divide  the  voters 
on  party  lines.  Party  managers  have  sought  to  lay  hold  of 
the  city  patronage,  i.e.  the  offices,  and  they  have  used  the 
spoils  of  office  as  a  means  of  keeping  up  the  party  and  help- 
ing it  to  carry  the  State.  These  city  party  machines,  acting 
together  throughout  the  State,  become  a  State-wide  machine    Evils  of 

,  r^  1  1.1111       Partisanship  in 

under  the  direction  of  some  State  boss,  and  they  ail  work  ^ity 
together  in  the  State  legislature  for  selfish  or  party  purposes  Government 
to  prevent  their  cities  from  getting  better  charters  and 
nonpartisan  and  more  businesslike  government.  Sometimes 
partisan  legislatures  create,  or  abolish.  Police  Commissioners, 
or  other  Boards,  and  upset  an  entire  city  government  in  certain 
cities  of  the  State  in  order  to  strengthen  the  party  or  to  place 
the  city  election  machinery  under  party  control,  thus  flagrantly 
sacrificing  the  interest  of  the  city  to  the  interest  of  the  party. 
This  "ripper"  legislation  is  a  good  illustration  of  the  evils 
arising  from  permitting  the  legislature  to  have  full  control 
over  city  affairs.  Nor  should  the  local  party  organization  be 
allowed  to  control  city  elections  or  the  city  business.  This  is 
now  being  resisted  by  the  commission  form  of  city  government 
(see  p.  1 2  2)  and  by  local  independence  among  the  voters,  in  order 
that  city  questions  which  are  non-partisan,  may  be  considered 
on  their  merits,  with  only  the  local  and  business  interests  of  the 
city  in  view.  To  this  end,  city  elections  should  be  held  as 
much  as  possible  apart  from  national  and  State  elections,  and 
the  party  relations  of  the  candidates  should  be  disregarded 
by  the  voters.  The  city  policies  and  interests  alone  should 
govern  the  voting.  There  is  no  Democratic  way  of  removing 
city  garbage  or  getting  a  good  supply  of  pure  water,  nor  a 
Republican  way  of  safe-guarding  the  city  health.  Political 
parties  are  not  divided  on  such  questions  as  to  whether  there 


122  THE   CITIZEN   AND  THE   REPUBLIC 

should  be  a  new  high  school  building  or  whether  the  city- 
streets  should  be  better  paved,  or  whether  the  police  should 
enforce  the  law. 

Commission  Form  of  City  Government 

There  has  always  been  an  "orthodox  type"  of  city  govern- 
ment in  the  United  States.  It  has  rested  on  the  old  idea  of 
the    "separation    of    the   powers."     There   must   be    a    City 

Business-like      Legislature    (Council),    a    City    Executive    (Mayor),    and    a 
Conduct  of  ^  /  ,.  ,  X         *,,        , 

City  Affairs         City    Judiciary    (Courts,    Police    Judges,    etc.).     All    these 

officers  and  their  functions,  it  has  been  thought,  must  be  kept 
separate  and  distinct  and  the  people  must  elect  them  all. 
Hardly  a  city  in  America  departed  from  this  idea  until  the 
opening  of  the  twentieth  century.  The  commission  form  of 
City  Government  disregards  this  theory.  It  holds  that  in 
administering  the  business  of  a  city  the  division  of  powers 
has  no  place;  that  the  work  of  the  city  "is  business  not  govern- 
ment." The  commission  plan,  therefore,  abolishes  the  city 
council  as  a  legislature  on  the  ground  that  very  little  legislating 
is  to  be  done  by  the  city  and  that  it  is  not  laws  but  contracts 
and  business  arrangements  that  must  be  made  and  carried 
out,  and  it  puts  all  legislative  and  administrative  authority 
into  the  hands  of  the  same  group  of  'men. 

This  plan  of  city  government  arose  in  Galveston,  Texas, 
after  the  great  tidal  wave  had  flooded  that  city  in  1901. 
"Prior  to  1901  Galveston  was  one  of  the  worst  governed  urban 
communities  in  the  whole  country.  Under  the  old  system 
of  jurisdiction  by  a  mayor,  various  elective  ofi&cials,  and  a 
board  of  aldermen,  its  municipal  history  managed  to  afford 
illustrations  of  almost  every  vice  in  local  government.  The 
city  debt  was  allowed  to  mount  steadily,  and  borrowing  to  pay 
current  expenses  was  not  uncommon.  City  departments  were 
managed  wastefully;  spoilsmen  w^ere  put  into  places  of  honor 
and  profit  in  the  city's  service.  The  accounts  were  kept  in 
such  a  way  that  few  could  understand  what  the  financial  situ- 


CITY  GOVERNMENT  123 

ation  was  at  any  time.  The  tax  rate  was  high,  and  the  citizens 
got  poor  service  in  return  for  generous  expenditures.  The 
outcome  was  that  a  considerable  element  among  the  voters 
had  become  discouraged  with  the  whole  situation  and  had 
ceased  to  manifest  any  interest  in  what  went  on  at  the  city 
hall "  ^  Almost  the  same  thing  might  be  truthfully  said  of 
the  corrupt  and  inefficient  conditions  and  practices  in  hundreds 
of  other  American  cities. 

Galveston  could  not  obtain  financial  credit  and  rebuild  its 
waste  places  under  the  old  corrupt  city  government.  The 
people  asked  the  legislature  to  overthrow  the  old  form  of  city 
government  and  put  the  powers  formerly  vested  in  mayor, 
council,  and  other  officers,  into  the  hands  of  a  commission  of 
five  business  men.  The  Galveston  City  charter  of  1903  pro- 
vides for  the  popular  election,  every  two  years,  of  five  com- 
missioners, all  to  be  chosen  by  the  city  at  large.  One  is  called 
the  mayor-president,  who  presides  at  the  meetings  of  the  '^^^  Galveston 
commission,  but  he  has  no  veto  nor  special  powers.  The 
commission  by  a  majority  vote  enacts  all  city  ordinances  and 
passes  all  appropriations  and  supervises  the  enforcement  of 
its  own  orders  and  regulates  the  expenditure  of  its  own  allow- 
ances. It  handles  all  franchises  and  awards  all  contracts  on 
public  works,  and  sees  to  protecting  the  city  against  frauds. 
That  is,  this  commission  exercises  all  powers  formerly  vested 
in  the  mayor  and  board  of  aldermen.  Four  administrative 
headships  or  departments  of  the  city  are  provided:  i.  Fi- 
nance and  revenue;  2.  Water  and  sewerage;  3.  Police  and 
fire  protection;   4.  Streets  and  public  property.- 

The  mayor-president  is  not  made  the  head  of  a  department, 
but  exercises  a  general  supervision  over  all,  and  each  of  the 
four  other  commissioners  is  made  directly  responsible,  as 
head   manager,   for  one  of  these  important  branches  of  the 

1  Munro's  "The  Government  of  American  Cities,"  p.  295. 

2  The  city  schools  are,  as  formerly,  placed  under  the  control  of  a 
separate  school  board. 


124  Tlin  CITIZEN   AND  THE   REPUBLIC 

city's  business.  Important  appointments  in  each  department 
are  made  by  the  whole  commission,  while  the  minor  appoint- 
ments are  made  by  the  commissioner  in  whose  department  the 
work  lies. 

This  is  the  Galveston  plan.  It  explains  the  commission 
form  of  city  government.  It  was  devised  to  meet  an  emer- 
gency, but  when  its  working  benefits  were  seen  by  experience 
it  was  retained  as  a  permanent  form  of  city  government. 
Other  cities  of  Texas,  noticing  the  improved  conditions  in 
Galveston,  obtained  similar  charters.  The  plan  spread  to  other 
States,  Des  Moines,  in  Iowa,  being  the  next  to  adopt  it  and 
adding  some  new  features.  In  Des  Moines  five  city  depart- 
ments are  created,  the  Mayor  being  made  the  head  of  the 
Department  of  public  affairs,  and  some  of  the  newer  democratic 
agencies  of  government  are  added,  the  initiative,  referendum, 
protest  and  recall,  and  nominations  by  a  nonpartisan  Primary. 
The  Protest  affords  a  means  by  petition  of  delaying  an  ordi- 
nance of  the  city  council  or  commission,  until  the  people  may 
have  an  opportunity  to  express  themselves  on  it,  by  a  vote 
for  or  against  it.  No  public  utiHty  franchise  is  to  be  valid 
till  confirmed  by  the  voters. 

As  many  as  two  hundred  cities  in  twenty  different  States 
now  use  the  Galveston  Commission  plan  of  city  government 
or  some  modification  of  it.  They  are  generally  cities  of  less 
than  100,000  population. 

Only  seven  cities  with  as  much,  each,  as  100,000  population 
and  only  one  with  200,000  had  by  1913  adopted  the  commission 
plan.  In  almost  all  cases  where  the  people  have  had  a  chance 
to  vote  on  the  plan  they  have  adopted  it,  and  no  city  has  gone 
back  to  the  old  plan  after  trying  the  new.  ^ 

The  terms  of  the  commissioners  vary  from  one  to  six  years, 

the  salaries  from  a  few  hundred  to  several  thousand  dollars. 

In  some  cities  the  distribution  of  the  administrative  work  is 

made  by  the  commission  after  it  is  elected;  in  others,  each 

^  See  Munro's  "Government  of  American  Cities,"  p.  302. 


CITY   GOVERNMENT 


125 


commissioner  is  elected  for  a  particular  department.  The 
commission  is  not  expected  to  be  a  body  of  experts,  but  it  is 
expected  to  be  able  and  willing  to  select  experts  to  attend  to 
the  city  business,  surveying,  engineering,  road  and  bridge 
building,  bookkeeping,  assessing,  the  care  of  public  health,  etc. 

"Under  no  plan  of  local  government  ought  a  second-rate 
engineer  to  be  preferred  to  a  first-rate  lawyer  or  physician  or 
banker  or  mechanic  as  supervisor  of  streets;  yet  he  undoubt- 
edly would  have  some  advantage  over  the  latter  in  any  electoral 
contest  where  special  qualifications  happen  to  be  thrust  into 
the  foreground.  To  look  for  specialized  skill  in  the  individual 
commissioners  is  to  impair  one  of  the  strong  features  of  the 
whole  commission  plan,  which  is  the  combination  of  strictly 
amateur  with  strictly  expert  administration,  each  operating 
in  its  proper  sphere." '^ 

Certain  advantages  are  claimed  for  this  system: 

1.  //  concentrates  responsibility.  No  system  can  avoid  all 
faults  and  errors,  but  when  these  occur  the  blame  cannot  be 
any  longer  bandied  back  and  forth  between  mayor  and  council. 
It  will  be  definitely  known  upon  whose  shoulders  to  lay  the 
blame.  It  will  be  the  fault  of  the  commission  and,  too,  of 
a  particular  member  of  the  commission  and  the  remedy  or 
punishment  can  be  applied. 

2.  It  makes  business  methods  possible.  Construction  work, 
fire  protection,  auditing,  piping  water  to  a  town,  making  and 
enforcing  good  contracts,  all  these  are  not  matters  of  leg- 
islation but  of  business.  They  should  be  attended  to  in  a 
sensible  way  by  a  competent  board  of  business  directors  (com- 
missioners) for  the  stockholders,  who  are  the  people  and  the 
tax  payers  of  the  city.  The  commission  may  simplify  adminis- 
trative machinery  and  promote  efficiency,  though,  of  course, 
the  city  is  rriore  than  a  mere  corporation  for  commercial 
profits  and  must  be  governed  with  a  view  to  public  opinion. 


Advantages  of 
the 

Commission 
Form 


1  See  Munro,  "Government  of  American  Cities,"  pp.  303-304. 


126 


THE  crnzHN  and  the  republic 


Objections    to 
the 

Cominission 
Plan 


A  good  honest  business  administration  helps  to  educate  pubUc 
opinion. 

3.  It  reduces  administrative  friction  and  delay.  City  councils 
are  sometimes  unwieldy.  A  small  body  that  can  act  quickly, 
elected  by  the  whole  city,  may  be  as  truly  representative  as  a 
large  body  elected  by  all  parts  of  the  town.^ 

4.  //  improves  the  quality  of  city  officers.  With  business 
methods  possible  and  responsibility  and  power  concentrated, 
better  men  are  induced  to  take  charge  of  the  city's  affairs. 
City  government,  like  all  government,  depends  on  the  men 
chosen  to  administer  it.  Good  men  may  do  well  under  a  bad 
system,  but  bad  men  will  not  do  well  under  any  system.  A 
good  system  may  help  good  men  to  overcome  the  bad. 

Objections  have  been  raised  to  the  new  plan  of  city  govern- 
ment. It  has  been  denounced  as  undemocratic,  un-American 
and  oligarchic,  as  putting  power  into  the  hands  of  too  few  men. 
It  is  charged  that  it  does  not  allow  a  representative  city  govern- 
ment; that  it  may  promote  rather  than  prevent  corrupt  con- 
trol, since  "the  smaller  the  body  the  easier  it  can  be  reached 
and  influenced."  The  liquor  interests,  or  a  large  public 
service  corporation,  or  the  spoilsmen  who  are  out  for  the 
"loaves  and  fishes,"  may,  it  is  asserted,  more  easily  buy  or 
coerce  five  commissioners  than  fifty  councilmen;  hence  there 
is  safety  in  numbers.'^ 

It  may  be  that  the  commission  plan  will  not  achieve  all 
that  has  been  promised  for  it.  It  is  still  new,  and  it  must 
always  be  remembered  that  no  plan  is  self-executing  or  can 

1  Prior  to  1909  Boston  had  75  aldermen,  three  from  each  of  twenty- 
five  wards.  Such  a  council  will  not  be  likely  to  show  much  "collective 
wisdom"  but  is  likely  to  be  dominated  by  party  spoilsmen  and  to 
divide  itself  into  a  lot  of  standing  committees  with  divided  responsi- 
bility. 

2  In  Munro's  The  Government  of  American  Cities,  p.  313,  this  objec- 
tion is  well  refuted.  Under  the  old  system  the  corruptionist  does  not 
deal  with  the  aldermen  one  by  one,  but  with  the  five  or  six  political 
bosses  in  the  various  wards,  or  perhaps  with  only  one  central  boss  who 
acts  as  the  go-between  in  controlling  the  council. 


CITY   GOVERNMENT 


127 


HnARtlfsE  R^pft)nN-t^  Mf INJ^Si^- 


Illustrating  the  Simplicity  of  the  Present  Chapter  as  Com- 
pared WITH  the  Complexity  and  Contusion  of  the  Old  Way 
IN  Spokane,  Washington 


128  THE   CITIZEN    AND  THE   REPUBLIC 

dispense  with  civic  righteousness  and  public  spirit  among  the 
people.  The  commission  plan  should  be  connected  with  other 
reforms  and  features  in  city  government,  —  nonpartisan 
nominations,  the  short  ballot,  preferential  voting,  the  merit 
system,  abolition  of  ward  representation,  publicity  in  ofiEicial 
business,  and  the  strict  enforcement  of  good  election  laws. 
Eternal  vigilance  is  the  price  of  good  government.  Candi- 
dates backed  by  money  and  organization  will  always  have  a 
better  chance  than  those  that  are  not.  But  the  people  who  are 
disinterested  and  not  self-seekers  should  always  be  ready  to 
avail  themselves  of  every  reform  and  device  that  will  give  them 
a  better  fighting  chance  against  the  forces  of  evil  and  cor- 
ruption. As  such,  the  commission  form  of  city  government 
deserves  trial  and  attention. 

The  City  Manager  Plan 

The  "city  manager  plan,"  which  is  sometimes  called  the 
"commission  manager  plan,"  involves  the  choice  by  the 
commission  or  council  of  a  single  man  to  manage  the  business 
of  the  city.  It  is  an  evolution,  or  an  advance,  from  the 
commission  plan,  and  it  is  based  upon  the  idea  that  city 
administration  has  become  a  business  or  a  profession,  and  must 
be  managed  by  men  experienced  in  city  affairs.  It  recognizes 
the  city's  need  of  the  expert  for  special  city  problems.  It 
retains  the  essential  reforms  of  the  commission  plan  by  which 
a  small  elective  body  is  chosen  by  a  nonpartisan  election  on 
a  short  ballot.  The  members  of  the  commission  may  be 
chosen  by  wards,  but  it  is  considered  better  to  have  them  chosen 
by  the  voters  of  the  city  at  large.  This  commission  chooses 
a  business  manager  who  becomes  solely  responsible  for  the 
honest  and  efficient  conduct  of  the  city's  various  departments 
of  government.  Under  the  usual  commission  plan  each 
of  the  five  commissioners  takes  charge  of  a  department  of  the 
city's  work,  devoting  his  whole  time  on  a  substantial  salary 
to  directing  his  department.     This  gives  a  five-headed  aspect 


CITY  GOVERNMENT 


129 


to  the  city's  government.  The  city  manager  plan  substitutes 
a  single  head  who  has  control  of  the  important  appointments 
and  removals,  and  who  is  responsible  to  the  commission  for 
results. 

The  "city  manager"  is  not  elected  by  the  people  but  is 
appointed  by  the  commission  or  council.  He  need  not  be 
a  resident  of  the  city  at  the  time  of  his  appointment,  but  may 
be  selected  from  anywhere  in  the  country,  on  account  of  his 
business  and  administrative  capacity,  and  being  responsible 
to  the  council  he  holds  his  office  not  for  any  specified  term  but 
only  so  long  as  he  gives  satisfaction. 

The  little  city  of  Sumter,  South  Carolina,  with  a  population 
of  a  little  over  8000,  was  the  first  city  in  the  United  States  to 
use  the  city  manager.  In  191 2  that  city  advertised  through- 
out the  United  States  for  a  city  manager.  The  advertisement 
said: 

"An  engineer  of  standing  and  ability  will  be  preferred. 

"The  city  manager  will  hold  office  as  long  as  he  gives 
satisfaction  to  the  commission.  He  will  have  complete 
administrative  control  of  the  city,  subject  to  the  approval 
of  the  board  of  three  elected  commissioners. 

"There  will  be  no  politics  in  the  job;  the  work  will  be  purely 
that  of  an  expert. 

"A  splendid  opportunity  for  the  right  man  to  make  a  record 
in  a  new  and  coming  profession." 

There  were  150  applicants  for  this  city  job  in  Sumter. 
A  civil  engineer  from  Virginia  who  had  been  in  the  employ 
of  the  Southern  Railway  Company  was  selected.  In  one  year 
the  manager  had  saved  the  city  more  than  half  his  salary 
on  one  or  two  items  of  expenditure  and  by  the  cart  service 
in  the  Department  of  Public  Works  he  saved  the  city  nearly 
$5000  a  year. 

After  the  flood  in  the  Miami  Valley  in  19 13,  Dayton,  Ohio, 
which  had  suffered  severely  from  that  overflow,  adopted  for 
itself  an  advanced  city  charter  providing  for  a  city  manager. 


How  the  city 
Manager  Is 
Chosen 


Origin  and 
Growth   of  the 
City  Manager 
Plan, 
Sumter,  S.  C. 


130  THE  CITIZEN   AND   THE   REPUBLIC 

Under  the  new  constitution  of  Ohio,  a  city  in  that  State  was 

no  longer  required  to  go  to  the  State  legislature  whenever  it 

wished   to  make  some  change  or  improvement  in  its  local 

The  Dayton        affairs.     So  DavtoH  adopted  a  new  charter  for  itself  under 

Experiment  ,.,..,  i  -r^  rr         i 

which  it  might  try  out  the  manager  plan.  Dayton  offered 
its  managership  with  a  krge  salary  to  Colonel  Goethals,  the 
builder  of  Panama.  Colonel  Goethals  declined  and  the  place 
was  offered  to  Henry  M.  Waite,  who  was  at  the  time  city 
engineer  in  Cincinnati.  Waite  was  a  civil  engineer,  a  graduate 
from  the  Massachusetts  Institute  of  Technology,  and  he  had 
been  Division  Superintendent  on  some  of  the  large  railways 
of  the  country.  He  had  acquired  a  large  knowledge  of  civic 
affairs,  had  become  efficient  in  city  administration,  and  was 
devoted  to  the  idea  of  eflSiciency  in  public  office.  His  platform 
was  to  employ  men  for  their  efficiency  and  not  because  of  any 
political  affiliation  or  in  payment  of  any  political  debts. 

Dayton  is  the  largest  city  in  the  country  to  try  the  com- 
mission-manager plan  (pop.,  116,000).^  It  pays  its  manager 
a  salary  of  $12,500.  Staunton,  Virginia,  pays  her  manager 
$2500,  Sumter,  S.  C,  $3300,  Springfield,  Ohio,  $6000.  The 
larger  salaries  may  endanger  the  plan.  They  are  to  be 
justified  only  on  the  ground  that  the  manager  by  his  econo- 
mies can  save  the  city  much  more  than  his  salary  without 
impairing  the  public  service.  In  Manistee,  Michigan,  the 
city  budget  in  1913  was  $104,000.  The  manager  saved 
$20,000  of  this  and  at  the  same  time  greatly  increased  the 
city's  service,  restoring  ten  miles  of  paved  streets.  The  old 
government  had  authorized  $80,000  on  a  new  sewer.  The 
new  city  manager  spent  $1200  to  clean  out  the  old  one, 
removing  tons  of  sand  and  refuse,  and  the  sewer  was  found 
to  be  in  perfect  condition.  The  new  sewer  was  not  built. 
Such  items  of  saving  will  justify  a  good  salary  to  the  right 
man. 

1  See  Waite's  "The  Commission  Manager  Plan,"  in  the  National 
Municipal  Review,  Vol.  IV,  p.  40. 


CITY  GOVERNMENT  13 1 

The  powers  of  the  city  manager  as  seen  from  several  charters 
of  cities  operating  under  the  plan  are  as  follows: 

(a)  He  is  charged  with  the  enforcement  of  the  laws  and  ordi- 
nances.    To  this  end,  he  must  control  the  PoUce  Department. 

(b)  He  administers  the  various  city  departments  and  is 
responsible  for  the  results. 

(t)  He  appoints  and  dismisses  the  employes  whose  work  is 
essential  to  these  results. 

{d)  He  advises  the  council  or  commission,  making  written 
reports  at  the  meetings,  but  has  no  vote. 

(e)  He  estimates  the  financial  needs  of  the  city,  and  is  the 
expert  budget-maker  and  financial  adviser  of  the  commission. 

(/)  He  has  general  powers  of  investigation  and  is  the  general 
agent  of  the  commission.^ 

Managers  are  now  being  transferred  from  city  to  city,  like 
city  school  superintendents.  Jackson,  Michigan,  drew  the 
successful  manager  of  Big  Rapids  by  an  advance  in  salary, 
and  Sherman,  Texas,  hired  one  from  River  Forest,  Illinois. 
So  the  profession  of  city  manager  is  becoming  established. 

The  Model  Charter  of  the  National  Municipal  League 
arranges  to  have  the  commission  appoint  the  City  Civil 
Service  Commission  and  the  city  auditor  in  addition  to  the 
manager,  who  is  to  make  all  other  appointments.  The  Dayton 
charter  adds  the  city  clerk  to  the  commission's  appointments. 
In  other  cities,  the  assessors,  municipal  judges,  and  boards 
of  education  are  appointed  by  the  commission  instead  of  by 
the  manager.  Some  cities  have  put  the  police  department 
beyond  the  manager's  authority,  also  the  city  solicitor  (at- 
torney), city  treasurer,  purchasing  agent,  and  sinking  fund 
commissioners.  This  goes  so  far  as  to  reduce  the  ''manager" 
merely  to  a  city  engineer  or  superintendent  of  public  works, 
and  such  cities  should  be  excluded  from  those  said  to  be  trying 
the  plan,  since  in  them  the  city  manager  does  not  really  manage. 

'  Toulmin's  Tke  City  Manager,  p.  90.  See  also  "  City  Manager  Prog- 
ress during  1916"  in  the  National  Municipal  Review  for  March,  1917. 


132 


THE   CITIZEN   AND  THE   REPUBLIC 


City  Control  of 

Public 

UtUltles 


Is  City 

Ownership  of 
Public 
Utilities 
Desirable? 


Municipal  Public  Utilities 

A  public  utility  is  an  agency  for  supplying  some  public  need 
or  for  giving  some  useful  service  to  the  community.  Water 
works,  gas  plants,  transportation  facilities,  telephone  con- 
veniences, are  public  utilities.  If  these  are  supplied  by  private 
corporations,  the  private  companies  are  called  "public  service 
corporations"  (see  p.  88).  They  are  private  companies 
using  private  capital  under  private  control,  but  it  is  recognized 
that  they  are  to  render  a  pubhc  service,  and  the  pubhc  have 
more  or  less  interest  in  and  should  have  some  voice  in  their 
management.  The  franchises  under  which  private  companies 
operate  —  that  is,  the  grant  by  which  they  are  allowed  to 
use  the  streets  —  require  certain  services  and  returns.  Abuses 
have  arisen  at  times  by  these  companies  seeking  to  control 
the  city  council  so  as  to  obtain  liberal,  or  loose  franchises 
that  are  unfair  to  the  people  of  the  city  and  under  which  the 
companies  may  make  undue  profits. 

These  abuses  have  led  to  a  demand  that  cities  should  own 
or  fully  control  their  own  public  utilities,  and  take  over  the  gas 
plants,  water  works,  etc.,  and  operate  them  as  they  do  the 
police,  fire,  and  school  departments  of  the  city.  Of  course  this 
municipal  ownership,  or  control,  is  to  be  brought  about  only 
after  making  fair  compensation  to  the  owners  of  the  properties 
for  money  invested.  It  is  claimed  that  under  city  ownership 
better  and  cheaper  service  would  be  furnished,  as  the  public 
utilities,  which  are  natural  monopolies  in  which  competition 
is  not  desirable  or  possible,  would  then  be  operated  solely  in 
the  interest  of  the  public  and  without  the  necessity  of  declar- 
ing large  dividends  to  private  owners.  Some  cities  have  had 
successful  experience  in  city  ownership,  and  some  have  been 
unsuccessful.  Whether  the  public  would  be  better  served 
under  municipal  ownership  depends  altogether  upon  how  the 
city  is  governed.  If  "spoils  politics"  and  selfish  interests 
prevail  in  the  city  council,  or  governing  boards,  and  incom- 


City  Hall,  Oakland,  California 


■(K^l 


Sewabd  Park  Playgroi'nd,  New  York  City 


Lincoln  Park,  Chicago 


CITY  GOVERNMENT  133 

petent  and  corrupt  politicians  are  elected  to  office,  the  public 
service  will  be  neglected.  But  if  the  people  are  vigilant  and 
intelligent  and  elect  competent,  public-spirited  men  to  control 
the  business  of  the  city,  then  these  public  utilities,  which  should 
always  be  managed  for  the  city,  may  be  efficiently  and  satis- 
factorily managed  by  the  people.  It  all  goes  back  to  the 
question  whether  the  people  will  govern  themselves  well,  or 
allow  themselves  to  be  misgoverned  and  mistreated. 

Municipal  Activities 

It  is  the  duty  of  the  city  police  to  enforce  the  laws,  to  PoUce 
preserve  the  public  peace,  suppress  riots,  to  patrol  the  streets,  Administration 
to  regulate  street  traffic,  to  compel  the  liquor  shops  to  obey 
the  law,  to  inspect  places  of  public  amusement,  to  direct  and 
advise  strangers  in  the  city,  and  to  do  whatever  else  may 
tend  to  promote  the  good  order  of  the  city.  The  good  police- 
man is  always  a  friend  to  the  law-abiding  citizen  and  a  foe 
to  evil-doers.  The  police  are  controlled  either  by  a  Police 
Commissioner  or  a  Police  Board,  appointed  (usually)  by  the 
Mayor.  Since  the  policemen  are  charged  with  enforcing 
State  laws,  some  State  supervision  is  usually  exercised  in 
their  appointment  and  removal. 

The  city  has  charge  of  many  public  activities.  There  is  Public 
a  City  Board  of  Health,  with  a  physician  as  director  or  secre-  Health 
tary.  It  is  the  duty  of  the  Health  Department  to  make 
sanitary  inspection  of  schoolhouses,  factories,  and  public 
buildings;  to  control  public  ventilation,  smoke  consumption, 
drainage,  sewage,  and  care  of  garbage;  to  control  cases  of 
infectious  disease  and  to  provide  for  isolation  and  careful 
disinfection;  to  regulate  the  sale  of  food  products;  to  prevent 
the  growth  of  rank  vegetation,  to  promote  city  cleanHness, 
to  inspect  the  health  of  school  children,  and  to  advise  the 
people  as  to  the  best  way  to  promote  public  health. 

In  recent  years  most  of  the  larger  cities,  and  many  smaller   pubUc 
ones,  have  come  to  realize  the  importance  of  providing  recrea-    Recreation 


134 


THE   CITIZEN   AND  THE   REPUBLIC 


Charities  and 
Poor  Relief 


Poverty  and 
Crime 


tion  rooms,  playgrounds,  and  public  parks  ("breathing 
places")  for  their  crowded  populations.  Tracts  of  land  are 
set  aside  for  public  games  and  recreation;  outdoor  sports, 
municipal  playgrounds,  and  park  gymnasiums  are  provided. 
It  is  believed  that  such  opportunities  will  promote  the  physical 
and  moral  welfare  of  the  children  and  help  to  re-create  the 
strength  and  energy  of  all  working  classes. 

In  some  places  the  relief  of  the  poor  is  attended  to  entirely 
by  private  enterprise  and  organization,  or  by  churches  and 
religious  societies;  in  some  places,  as  in  New  England,  it  is 
always  a  municipal  function;  in  some  places  it  is  a  county 
function,  while  in  some  places  the  duty  is  attended  to  by  the 
Township  through  the  Township  Trustee.  In  most  cities 
there  are  Organized  Charities;  that  is,  societies  which  are 
organized  and  promoted  by  private  benevolence  and  enter- 
prise, though  they  are  sometimes  assisted  by  city  authorities 
and  city  funds.  The  societies  for  Organized  Charities  seek  to 
prevent  duplication,  waste,  and  imposition;  to  obtain  ad- 
mission of  suitable  persons  to  public  almshouses  and  hospitals; 
to  obtain  medical  assistance  for  the  sick  and  outdoor  relief 
for  those  who  may  be  best  helped  in  that  way ;  ^  to  maintain 
public  employment  bureaus  by  which  the  able-bodied  poor 
may  obtain  employment  and  become  self-supporting;  and 
to  assist  the  poor  in  their  tenements  toward  better  conditions 
and  methods  of  living. 

Poverty,  disease,  and  crime,  because  of  the  growth  of  great 
cities  and  their  congested  populations,  present  greater  prob- 
lems than  private  benevolence  can  care  for.  These  problems 
are  of  public  concern.  Cities  and  States  are  now  giving 
attention  to  them.  There  are  State  Boards  of  Charities  as 
well  as  City  Boards.     These  give  attention  to  the  pressing 


1  "Outdoor  relief"  is  help  given  to  persons  in  their  homes  as  dis- 
tinguished from  "indoor  relief,"  by  providing  for  them  in  public  insti- 
tutions. Outdoor  relief  has  been  subject  to  much  abuse  and  has  in 
many  cases  tended  to  encourage  pauperism. 


CITY  GOVERNMENT 


135 


problems  of  charities  and  correction;  of  crime  and  its  punish- 
ment (criminology,  penology);  of  prison  reform;  of  providing 
for  orphaned,  destitute,  or  wayward  children;  and  the  study 
of  the  causes  of  poverty  and  its  prevention.  Students  of 
these  social  problems  and  social  workers,  men  and  women 
who  give  their  lives  to  the  problems  of  charity,  hold  national 
conferences  every  year,  and  a  valuable  literature  has  arisen 
from  their  addresses  and  proceedings.^ 

The  whole  problem  of  public  education  is  under  the  control  Public 
of  the  city,  subject  to  the  laws  of  the  State.  The  schools  of  a  Education 
city  are  its  most  important  enterprise.  On  these  are  ex- 
pended a  very  large  proportion  of  its  revenues,  and  in  the 
welfare  and  efficiency  of  these  schools  the  people  of  the  city 
are  most  vitally  interested.  A  Board  of  Education,  or  School 
Board,  is  elected  either  by  popular  vote  or  by  the  City  Council. 
In  some  States  this  body  is  a  separate  corporation,  or  "school 
city"  with  a  power  to  levy  taxes,  within  a  maximum  limit,  to 
supply  the  city's  educational  needs.  In  other  places  the 
School  Board  makes  up  a  budget  showing  the  educational 
needs  and  this  may  be  allowed  or  modified  by  the  City  Coun- 
cil. The  School  Board  attends  to  the  business  of  choosing  and 
buying  sites  for  school  buildings,  of  erecting  and  maintaining 
the  buildings,  choosing  a  Superintendent  of  Schools,  and, 
under  the  Superintendent's  advice,  of  appointing  teachers 
and  adopting  courses  of  study.- 

Welfare  Problems 

One  important  problem  before  the  great  city  is  to  abolish  The  city  slums 

the   "slums"   and   to  improve   the  homes   and   the  housing  Tenement 

conditions    of    the    working    classes.     The    low,    dirty    back  Proi>iem 


^  See  Proceedings  of  National  Conference  of  Charities  and  Correc- 
tions. Also  Edward  T.  Devine's  The  Practice  of  Charity,"  and  Charles 
R.  Henderson's  Modern  Methods  of  Charity. 

^  See  p.  114  for  other  activities  and  functions  attended  to  by  the 
city. 


136  THE  CITIZEN   AND  THE   REPUBLIC 

streets  and  lanes  of  the  city,  the  mean  hovels  and  crowded 
tenement  houses,  have  not  afforded  decent  places  in  which  to 
live.  Vice,  crime,  and  drunkenness  abound;  epidemics  of 
sickness  occur;  there  is  no  home  life,  no  privacy;  and,  there- 
fore, decency  and  sanitary  conditions  are  almost  impossible. 
Fresh  air,  sunlight,  and  pure  water  are  denied.  The  result 
of  these  "slum"  conditions  is  that  the  death  rate  is  high, 
especially  among  children,  and  the  slum  dwellers  in  their 
squalor  and  misery  care  nothing  for  the  order  and  good 
government  of  the  city.  They  are  at  once  the  victims  of 
bad  economic  conditions  and  the  instruments  of  bad  city 
government.  The  "slums"  present  the  economic  problem 
of  city  regeneration  which  social  workers  and  settlement 
workers  and  intelligent  benevolence  are  trying  to  solve. 
Students  of  city  government  and  social  problems  are  learning 
from  the  conditions  abroad  and  the  better  government  of 
foreign  cities.  Glasgow,  in  Scotland,  attacked  the  slum 
problem  some  years  ago.  It  razed  its  slum  shacks  and  erected 
new  houses  in  the  old  slum  area.  The  death  rate,  which 
had  been  53  in  1000  every  year,  fell  to  15  per  thousand.  In 
adjoining  slums  the  rate  remained  at  53  per  thousand. 

Nothing  can  be  more  important  for  a  city  than  the  condi- 
tions in  which  its  people  live,  and  it  is  this  problem  that  now 
confronts  the  people  of  the  city,  not  among  the  poor  only, 
but  chiefly  among  the  rich  and  the  well-to-do.^     The  whole 

1  The  advanced  student  is  invited  to  consider  the  economic  causes 
and  results  of  poverty.  Bad  economic  conditions,  poor  homes,  poor 
food,  or  not  enough  food,  produce  stunted,  undergrown,  ill-formed,  and 
unhealthy  people. 

During  the  British  Boer  War  in  South  Africa  "about  one  half  of  the 
army  candidates  from  London  were  rejected  as  below  the  military 
standard.  In  the  enlistment  stations  in  York,  Sheffield,  and  Leeds, 
over  47  per  cent  were  found  to  be  physically  unfit  for  service,  while 
in  Manchester,  out  of  11,000  men  ofTering  themselves  for  service  in 
1889,  8000  were  reported  to  be  so  deficient  in  stamina  and  physical 
strength  as  to  be  defective."  Frederick  Harrison,  in  speaking  of  the 
sad  housing  and   social   condition   of   British   workingmen  says:    "To 


At  the  :\Iilk  Station,  :\:t.  Morris  Park,  New  York  City 


A  City  Dispensary 


SoLDAX  High  School,  St.  Louis,  Missouri 


New  Central  Library  Building,  Intjianapolis  Public  Library 


CITY  GOVERNMENT  137 

city,  the  rich  and  powerful  included,  must  be  induced  or  com- 
pelled to  provide  city  conditions  suitable  for  the  living  of  all 
the  people. 

Will  the  city  be  able  to  raze  the  slums  and  create  the  "City   '^^^  "^**y 

■^  r    -1  1     Beautiful" 

Beautiful"?  The  city  has  been  looked  upon  as  the  failure  and 
the  fear  of  democracy.  It  has  also  been  called  the  "hope 
of  democracy."  Hope  will  overcome  fear,  and  our  cities  are 
destined  to  become  monuments  of  American  genius  and 
invention  and  of  the  ability  of  the  people  to  govern  themselves. 
Active  civic  movements  have  not  only  to  secure  better  govern- 
ment for  our  cities,  but  better  economic  conditions  must  be 
made  to  obtain  a  fairer  distribution  of  wealth  and  better  homes 
for  the  working  classes.  The  cities  will  then  be  beautified  and 
.nade  fit  places  not  only  in  which  to  trade  and  make  money 
but  for  wholesome  living  and  the  enjoyment  of  life.  More 
beautiful  parks  will  be  laid  out,  ample  playgrounds  provided, 
cleaner  streets  obtained,  and  finer  boulevards  and  drives  will 
be  made.  Safer  factories  will  exist,  better  schools  will  be 
leveloped,  central  and  branch  libraries  and  museums  will 
be  provided,  and  vocational  training  will  afford  the  people 
opportunity  for  culture  and  the  children  a  better  preparation 

-le  it  would  be  enough  to  condemn  modern  society  as  hardly  an  advance 
on  slavery  or  serfdom,  if  the  permanent  condition  of  industry  were  to 
be  that  which  we  behold.     Ninety  per  cent  of  the  actual  producers  of 
wealth  have  no  homes  that  they  can  call  their  own  beyond  the  end  of 
the  week;    have  no  bit  of  soil,  or  so  much  as  a  room  that  belongs  to 
them;    have  nothing  of  value  of  any  kind  except  as  much  furniture  as 
ill  go  in  a  cart;    have  the  precarious  chance  of  weekly  wages  which 
irely  suffice  to  keep  them  in  health,   are  housed  for  the  most  part 
places  that  no  man  thinks  fit  for  his  horse;  are  separated  by  so  narrow 
margin  from  destitution  that  a  month  of  bad  trade,  sickness  or  un- 
acted loss  brings  them  face  to  face  with  hunger  and  pauperism  .  .  . 
■^is  is  the  normal  state  of  the  average  workman  in  town  or  country." 
■:  the  conditions  much  better  in  many  American  cities?     If  America 
o  be  saved  from  such  conditions,  how  is  it  to  be  done?     See  Howe's 
s  City,  The   Hope  of  Democracy;    Haw's  Britain's    Homes,  and   The 
■■>y'5  Work;   Jack  London's  The  People  of  the  Abyss;   Robert  Hunter's 
lerty;  Jacob  Riis's  The  Battle  of  the  Slums,  and  the  publications  of 
National  Municipal  League. 


138  THE  CITIZEN   AND  THE   REPUBLIC 

for  life.  Cathedrals,  art  galleries,  and  fine  monuments  will 
adorn  the  city.  City  planning  will  be  intelligent,  the  artistic 
side  of  the  city  will  be  cultivated,  and  extensions  will  be  laid 
out  with  designs  for  architectural  beauty.  Great  architects 
will  be  employed  for  city  building  and  city  improvement, 
and  given  freedom  to  work  out  plans  to  improve  public 
squares  and  buildings  or  water  fronts,  and  thus  a  city  may  be 
designed  and  remade  into  a  vision  of  beauty  and  a  joy  to  its 
people. 

The  planting,  care,  and  preservation  of  trees;  school  archi- 
tecture and  interior  decorations;  home  lawns  and  extensions; 
the  safety  of  grade  crossings;  the  abatement  of  smoke  nui- 
sances; the  prevention  of  screeching  whistles  and  unnecessary 
noises,  —  all  these  possibihties  the  "City  Beautiful"  will 
seek  to  attain.  To  this  end  there  must  be  developed  a  city 
sense  and  a  city  spirit,  a  love  and  affection  for  the  city, 
a  devotion  to  its  interests  and  a  constant  thought  and  effort 
to  promote  its  welfare,  a  wilHngness  to  sacrifice  one's  self  for 
its  life  and  its  betterment.  It  is  in  such  lives  of  public  devotion 
that  we  find  good  citizenship,  and  in  such  citizens  we  find  the 
truest  patriotism  and  love  of  country. 

The  constant  need  of  the  city  is  noble,  unselfish,  patriotic 
men  and  women.  With  these  devoted  to  its  service  it  will  be 
efl&cient  and  beautiful;  without  them  it  will  decay.  "There 
is  not  a  city  government  in  America  on  whatever  pattern 
organized  which  will  not  work  well  when  administered  by 
honest,  public-spirited,  capable,  and  well-trained  men."  ^ 
There  is  not  one  that  will  work  well  if  bad  and  incompetent 
men  are  in  charge.  It  should  be  the  hope  and  desire  of  the 
children  of  our  schools  to  bring  devoted  and  efficient  service 
to  the  cities  and  towns  in  which  they  live. 

1  Carl  Schurz  in  the  Proceedings  of  the  National  Municipal  League, 
1894,  p.  123. 


CITY  GOVERNMENT  139 


CIVIC   CLUBS 

"North  Yakima,  Washington,  claims  to  be  the  cleanest  city  in  the 
United  States.  Also  it  is  one  of  the  most  progressive.  For  these 
distinctions  it  is  largely  indebted  to  its  Women's  Clubs.  Although  a 
small  city  it  has  such  a  club  for  nearly  every  department  of  civic  uplift 
and  a  federated  club  with  committees  devoted  to  public  health  and 
happiness.  These  committees  establish  public  parks  and  playgrounds, 
attend  to  the  sanitary  condition  of  schools  and  other  public  institutions, 
cooperate  with  the  city  health  authorities  for  pure  food  and  market 
cleanliness,  fight  flies,  bring  art  collections  to  the  city  for  study,  and 
generally  beautify  public  and  private  grounds.  For  example,  one 
of  these  committees  recently  bought  and  planted  several  thousand 
rose  trees  throughout  the  city."     {Independent,  August  23,  1915,  p.  257.) 

This  illustrates  how  voluntary  agencies  and  efforts  may  cultivate 
better  city  conditions  and  promote  better  city  government.  The 
officers  in  a  city  will  not  do  any  better  than  public  opinion  demands, 
and  public  opinion  will  depend  upon  the  activity  and  public  spirit 
of  private  citizens.  Civic  clubs,  women's  clubs,  commercial  clubs, 
churches,  school  officers,  health  officers,  —  all  should  cooperate  to  keep 
the  city  and  its  politics  clean  and  its  government  honest  and  enter- 
prising. 

TOPICS  AND    QUERIES 

Debate:    "Resolved  that  the  evils  under  home  rule  for  cities  would 

be  greater  than  under  State  control." 
Debate:    "Resolved,  that  nominations  to  city  offices  should  be  by 

petition  and  that  no  party  ballot  should  appear  in  the  election." 
Debate:    "Resolved  that  the  city  manager  plan  is  better  than  the 

orthodo.x  type  of  city  government." 
Why  has  the  American  democracy  failed  more  in  city  government 

than  elsewhere? 

5.  Why  are  city  "slums"  dangerous?     How  can  they  be  abolished? 

6.  What   are   the  police  abuses  in  your  city?     How  do  saloons  and 

criminal   places  influence   the   police?     How  is   the   police   court 
conducted? 

7.  How  are  the  taxes  of  your  city  raised  and  disbursed? 

8.  How  may  school  children  cooperate  with  the  authorities  in  making 

the  city  beautiful? 

SELECT  REFERENCES   ON   CITY   GOVERNMENT 

Beard,  Charles  A.    American    City    Government,    A    Survey    of    Newer 

Tendencies  (191 2). 
Beard,  Mary  Ritter.    Woman'' s  Work  in  Municipalities  (1915). 
Deming,   H.  E.    The    Government    of   American    Cities     (1909).     Lays 

special  emphasis  on  the  relation  of  the  city  to  the  State. 


140  THE   CITIZEN   AND  THE   REPUBLIC 

Goodnow,  F.  J.    Municipal  Home  Rule  (1903). 

Goodnow,  F.  J.    Municipal  Government  (1909). 

Hamilton,  John  Judson.  Dclhroncment  of  the  City  Boss,  or  City  Govern- 
ment by  Commissioji. 

Howe,  Frederic  C.  .The  Citv,  the  Hope  of  Democracy.  Sec  Chapter 
XVI,  "The  City  Beautiful." 

Munro,  W.  B.  The  Government  of  American  Cities  (1913).  See  chapter 
on  "Municipal  Reform  and  Reformers,"  in  which  is  described  the 
work  of  the  Municipal  Voters'  League  of  Chicago,  various  city 
clubs  and  civic  organizations,  the  Bureau  of  Municipal  Research, 
and  other  agencies  for  the  promotion  of  better  government. 

Nolen,  John.    City  Planning  (191 5). 

Rowe,  L.  S.    Problems  of  City  Government. 

Steffens,  J.  Lincoln.  The  Shame  of  the  Cities,  describing  the  abuses 
and  misgovernment  of  American  cities  a  decade  ago  or  more. 

Toulmin,  H.  A.,  Jr.    The  City  Manager,  a   New  Profession  (1915). 

Wilcox,  Delos  F.    The  American  City:    A    Problem  in  Democracy. 

Woodruff,  Clinton  R.    City  Government  by  Commission. 

Zeublin,  Chas.  A  Decade  of  Civic  Development;  American  Municipal 
Progress  (19 16). 


PERIODICAL   LITERATURE 

In  the  National  Municipal  Review,  see  "  City  Planning  the  Past  Year," 
by  Geo.  B.  Ford,  May,  1917;  "Planning  the  Modern  City,"  Vol.  VI, 
(1917);  "Results  of  Civic  and  Social  Surveys"  by  Murray  Gross, 
January,  1918,  and  "  Cities  in  War  Times  "  in  the  same  issue. 

"  How  Our  Big  Cities  Do  Things "  is  explained  in  Equity  for  January, 
1918  and  October,  191 7,  in  detailed  studies  of  the  charters,  organiza- 
tion, and  processes  of  city  government  in  New  York,  Philadelphia, 
Chicago,  Detroit,  Boston,  St.  Louis,  and  Cleveland.  Equity  is  a 
Quarterly  (Philadelphia,  50  cents  a  year)  "devoted  to  improved  proc- 
esses of  self-government." 

"How  the  Commission-manager  Plan  is  Getting  Along,"  article  by 
Richard  S.  Childs  in  the   National  Municipal  Review,  July,  1915. 

"The  Commission-Manager  Plan,"  article  by  Henry  M.  Waite,  in  the 
National  Municipal  Review,  Vol.  IV,  p.  40.  Municipal  Charters 
with  Models,  Political  Science  Quarterly,  March,  1915. 

The  Survey;    December  19,  1914. 

The  American  City,  a  monthly  publication  dealing  with  the  problems 
of  city  government. 

Metropolitan  Free  Cities:  A  Thorough  Municipal  Home  Rule  Policy, 
by  Robert  C.  Brooks,  in  the  Political  Science  Quarterly,  June,  1915. 

The  Annual  Proceedings  of  the  National  Municipal  League,  also  The 
National  Municipal  Review,  the  quarterly  organ  of  this  League. 
These  give  the  latest  discussions  of  current  problems  in  city  govern- 


CITY  GOVERNMENT  141 

ment.  The  League  also  publishes  a  series  of  volumes  on  city 
government. 

The  Bureau  of  Municipal  Research,  New  York  City.  Issues  monthly 
bulletins. 

Voters'  Leagues  and  their  Critical  Work,  by  D.  R.  Fox,  in  the  National 
Municipal  Review,  Vol.  II. 

The  Evil  Influence  of  National  Parties  in  Municipal  Elections,  by 
Brand  Whitlock,  in  the  Proceedings  of  the  National  Municipal 
League  for  1907. 

The  American  Year  Book  contains  material  on  many  branches  of  city 
government. 

League  of  American  Municipalities,  4  vols.,  1906-1910.  Statistical 
tables  and  summaries  of  civic  progress. 

McLaughlin,  A.  C.  and  Hart,  A.  B.  Cyclopedia  of  American  Govern- 
ment. 3  vols.,  1914.  Brief  articles  on  many  topics  touching  city 
government. 

Professor  William  B.  Munro,  of  Harvard  University,  has  published  a 
comprehensive  Bibliography  of  Municipal  Government  in  the  United 
States.  (Harvard  University  Press,  1915.)  From  this  innumer- 
able references  to  books  and  periodical  literature  may  be  found. 


The 

Importance  of 
the  State  in  the 
Government  of 
the  Citizen 


CHAPTER  VI 
THE   STATES  AND   THEIR   GOVERNMENT 

The  American  citizen  is  interested  in  his  Nation.  The 
Nation  seems  large  to  him.  Its  poUtics  and  elections,  its  public 
men  and  public  questions,  excite  his  attention,  and  he  is  fami- 
liar with  his  Nation's  history  and  its  great  men.  In  what- 
ever State  or  section  he  may  be,  he  thinks  of  the  United 
States  as  his  native  or  adopted  land  and  is  proud  to  greet 
"Old  Glory"  as  the  flag  and  symbol  of  his  beloved  country. 
This  is  right.  But  when  it  comes  to  the  laws  and  officers  and 
methods  by  which  he  is  governed  the  State  is  more  important 
to  the  citizen  than  is  the  Nation.  In  all  his  affairs  in  which 
civil  and  criminal  laws  are  concerned  the  State  touches  the 
citizen  a  hundred  times  where  the  Nation  touches  him  once. 
All  our  ordinary  civil  obligations  and  the  relations  of  citizens 
to  one  another  are  dealt  with  by  the  State. 

"  An  American  may,  through  a  long  life,  never  be  reminded  of 
the  Federal  Government  except  when  he  votes  at  presidential 
and  congressional  elections,  buys  a  package  of  tobacco  bearing 
the  government  stamp,  lodges  a  complaint  against  the  post- 
office,  or  opens  his  trunk  for  a  custom  house  officer  on  a  pier 
at  New  York  when  he  returns  from  a  tour  in  Europe."  ^ 

It  is  the  State  that  really  governs  the  citizen.  Nearly  all 
the  citizen's  taxes  are  paid  to  State  or  local  officials  acting 
under  State  laws.  The  citizen  finds  that  it  is  the  State  which 
registers  the  births  of  his  children,  provides  for  their  education 
and  their  inheritance  of  his  property,  makes  laws  and  regula- 
tions  for    safeguarding    their    health    or    for   licensing    them 

^  Bryce,  American  Commonwealth,  Vol.  I,  p.  425. 
142 


THE   STATES    AND  THEIR   GOVERNMENT  143 

when  they  wish  to  enter  a  trade  or  get  married.  The  court 
and  police  officers  that  look  after  the  peace  and  order  of 
the  community,  the  trustees  or  local  boards  "that  look  after 
the  poor,  control  highways,  impose  water  rates,  manage 
schools,  —  all  these  derive  their  legal  powers  from  the  State 
alone.  In  comparison  with  such  a  number  of  functions  the 
Federal  Government  is  but  a  department  for  foreign  affairs."^ 
It  will  be  seen  that  the  possible  ofifenses  against  national  law 
are  very  few,  against  State  law  much  more  numerous.  If 
a  man  becomes  a  traitor,  or  a  pirate,  or  a  counterfeiter,  or  a    Offenses 

.  against 

"moonshiner,"  or  robs  a  post-office,  or  interferes  with  inter-    National  Law 
state  commerce,  or  commits  assault  or  murder  on  an  American    compared  with 

those  against 

vessel  at  sea,  he  may  be  arrested  and  tried  by  Federal  authority,  state  Laws 
Offenses  against  the  national  law  may  almost  be  counted  on 
the  fingers  of  one's  hand.  But  the  State  law  deals  with  the 
ordinary  and  more  common  violations  of  law,  —  murder, 
robbery,  theft,  burglary,  bribery,  bigamy,  and  divorce, 
offenses  against  the  ballot,  nuisances,  malfeasance  in  office, 
violation  of  contract  or  any  wrong  or  injury  to  person  or 
property.  Almost  the  whole  civil  life  of  the  citizen  is  regu- 
lated by  the  State,  or  by  municipal  and  local  governments 
controlled  by  the  State.  Thus  it  behooves  the  citizen  to 
understand  his  State  government,  to  watch  it  constantly,  and 
to  do  all  that  he  can  to  see  to  it  that  the  State  does  what  it  was 
created  to  do,  —  i.e.  to  safeguard  the  citizen's  most  precious 
rights  and  promote  the  pubhc's  highest  interest. 

State  Constitution 

Each  State  has  a  constitution  of  its  own  which  is  the  funda- 
mental law  for  the  government  and  protection  of  the  State. 
The  original  thirteen  States  while  they  were  yet  colonies  had 
constitutions  in  the  form  of  charters.  These  charters  were 
granted  to  them  by  the  King  or  by  Parliament  and  they  served 
as  instruments  of  government,  Umiting  the  powers  of  their 
1  Bryce,  I,  426. 


144 


THE    CITIZF.N    AND  TIlll    REPUBLIC 


Power  of 
Congress  over 
a  State 
Constitution 


officers  and  guaranteeing  certain  rights  to  their  citizens. 
During  the  Revolution,  from  1776  to  1780,  all  the  States 
except  two  adopted  new  constitutions  to  take  the  place  of 
their  charters.^  This  was  done  by  the  independent  action 
of  their  people,  usually  under  the  guidance  of  the  Colonial 
Assembly.  Thus  the  supreme  power  competent  to  create  a 
constitution,  which  had  abided  in  King  and  Parliament,  now 
passed  to  the  people  of  the  several  independent  States. 

The  State  Constitution  in  every  case  at  present  provides 
for  an  Executive,  or  Governor,  a  Legislature  of  two  Houses, 
and  a  Judiciary  with  a  system  of  civil  and  criminal  procedure. 
Each  provides  a  system  of  local  self-government  in  counties, 
cities,  townships,  and  school  districts,  with  a  system  of  State 
and  local  taxation. 

A  State  constitution  is  usually  made  by  a  State  convention. 
The  delegates  to  this  convention  are  elected  by  the  people 
(or  by  those  authorized  to  vote  under  the  existing  consti- 
tution), and  after  the  convention  has  drawn  up  and  agreed 
to  the  constitution,  it  is  submitted  to  a  vote  of  the  people  for 
acceptance  or  rejection.  If  it  is  approved  by  the  popular 
vote  it  will  be  declared  in  force  and  be  put  into  operation 
by  the  proclamation  of  the  Governor  or  by  such  means  and 
forms  as  the  new  constitution  will  provide. 

It  should  be  understood  that  a  State  constitution  is  not 
granted  by  Congress  nor  does  a  State  government  derive  its 
authority  from  that  body  but  rather  from  the  people  of  the 
State.  Congress  has  influenced  the  character  of  a  State 
constitution  by  imposing  such  conditions  on  the  admission 
of  a  State  as  will  lead  it  to  conform  its  constitution  to  certain 
requirements,  as  was  proposed  in  the  case  of  Missouri  when 
the  House  wished  to  require  that  State  before  its  admission 
to  provide  in  its  constitution  for  the  abolition  of  slavery,  or 
as  was  done  in  the  case  of  Utah  when  Congress  required  that 

1  Connecticut  retained  her  colonial  charter  until  1818  and  Rhode  Island 
hers  until  1843, 


THE   STATES  AND  THEIR   GOVERNMENT  145 

State  to  pledge  itself  to  the  prevention  of  polygamy.  President 
Taft  vetoed  the  admission  of  Arizona,  requiring  the  people 
of  that  Territory  to  take  out  of  their  new  constitution  a  pro- 
vision for  the  recall  of  judges.  After  Arizona's  constitution 
had  been  changed  to  meet  this  requirement  the  State  was 
admitted.  Soon  afterwards  the  people  of  Arizona  reinserted 
in  their  constitution  the  provision  for  the  judicial  recall,  and 
there  was  no  way  to  prevent  it  by  any  national  authority. 
If  Congress  wished  to  punish  a  State  for  violating  its  pledges, 
it  might  deny  to  the  State  all  representation  in  Congress, 
but  that  has  never  been  done  and  is  not  likely  to  be.  The 
people  of  a  State  may  amend  their  State  Constitution  or 
adopt  a  new  one  at  any  time  it  may  suit  them  to  do  so. 

Every  State  constitution  provides  the  method  for  its  own 
amendment.  Usually  amendments  originate  in  the  legislature, 
though  in  some  States  they  may  be  proposed  under  the  initia-  ^"^ending 
tive  and  referendum  (see  p.  36).  The  amendment,  as  a  constitutions 
rule,  has  to  pass  both  houses,  perhaps  by  a  two  thirds  majority, 
and  then  be  submitted  to  the  people  for  approval.  The  legis- 
lature may  call  a  convention  or  ask  the  people  to  vote  on 
the  question  whether  or  not  they  wish  a  convention,  for  the 
purpose  of  revising  the  constitution  or  making  a  new  one. 

There  is  no  limit  on  the  power  of  a  State,  and  no  national 
authority  can  interfere  in  its  management, .  except  that  its 
Constitution  and  laws  must  be  in  harmony  with  the  Con- 
stitution and  laws  of  the  United  States.  A  Supreme  Court 
decision  may  set  aside  a  State  law  or  even  a  part  of  a  State's 
constitution,  if  either  should  be  found  to  violate  the  Consti- 
tution and  laws  of  the  United  States,  and  the  President  may 
interfere  to  enforce  within  a  State  the  legitimate  authority 
of  the  United  States,  even  against  the  protest  of  the  State 
authorities. 

All   legislative   powers   originally   belonged    to   the   States,    original 

T"!  -11  1     •  1  Powers 

These  powers  are  still  vested  m   the   State  except  such  as    retained  by 
are  denied  to  the  State  by  the  Constitution  of  the  United    '^^  ^'^'^^ 


146  THE   CITIZEN  AND  THE   REPUBLIC 

States.  The  people  of  the  States  in  forming  the  United 
States  Constitution  conferred  certain  legislative  powers 
(expressed,  recited,  enumerated)  on  the  national  Congress, 
denying  these  to  the  States,  but  they  retained  to  the  States 
all  others.  Congress  may  therefore  exercise  only  those 
powers  that  are  expressly  granted,  or  implied,  and  no  others. 
But  in  forming  their  State  constitution  the  people  of  a  State 
do  not  confer  legislative  power  on  their  legislature.  They  may 
deny  certain  powers  to  their  legislature,  but  that  body  may 
exercise  all  legislative  powers  that  are  not  denied.  The  "great 
residuary  mass  of  powers,"  too  numerous  to  mention,  abide 
with  the  State  legislature.  He  who  claims  for  the  State 
legislature  the  power  to  pass  an  act  or  establish  an  institution 
does  not  have  to  prove  his  claim;  the  power  exists  unless 
some  one  can  show  some  Hne  or  language  in  the  national  or 
State  constitution  that  prohibits  it.  The  State  legislature 
is  free,  sovereign,  and  supreme  to  act  in  its  own  way,  within 
these  Hmits.  With  Congress  it  is  just  the  opposite.  No 
powers  belong  to  that  body  except  those  that  are  granted. 
Congress  must  prove  by  the  Constitution  the  power  it 
claims,  but  a  State  legislature  need  not  do  so. 

In  this  explanation  are  found  the  constitutional  limitations 
on  legislative  power  in  State  and  nation. 

States'  Rights,  Duties  and  Obligations 
The  rights  of  the  States  are  defined  in  several  ways: 
(i)  Certain  powers  are  withheld  from  them.     No  State  may 
states'  Rights     enter  into  any  treaty,  coin  money,  lay  duties  on  imports  or 
exports  or  pass  a  bill  of  attainder  or  ex  post  facto  law,  or 
grant  a  title  of  nobility.     It  is  clear  that  such  things  may  not 
be  claimed   by   the   States  within   their  "rights,"   since   the 
Constitution  forbids  these  powers  to  a  State.^ 

(2)  Certain  fields  of  legislation  are  granted  to  the  national 

1  For  other  powers  denied  to  the  States  see  Article  I,  Section  10  of 
the  Constitution. 


defined 


THE   STATES  AND  THEIR   GOVERNMENT  147 

Government,  and  "rights"  within  those  fields  may  not  be 
claimed  by  the  States.  The  national  Government  has  an 
exclusive  right  on  these  matters.  That  is,  if  Congress  chooses 
to  legislate  on  such  subjects  the  States  are  excluded  from  doing 
so.  But  if  Congress  fails  or  refuses  to  exercise  its  authority, 
the  States  have  a  right  to  enter  the  field  of  legislation  in  ques- 
tion. For  illustration.  Congress  is  given  power  to  pass  uniform 
laws  on  the  subject  of  bankruptcies.  Congress  is  not  bound 
to  exercise  this  power,  and  if  it  does  not,  each  State  may  pass 
a  bankruptcy  act  for  itself.  But  if  at  any  time  Congress 
chooses  to  legislate  on  this  subject  all  the  bankrupt  acts  of 
the  States  fall  and  are  superseded  by  the  act  of  Congress. 
This  excludes  and  limits  the  right  of  the  State. 

(3)  Judicial  decisions  and  interpretations  have  limited 
and  defined  the  rights  of  the  States.  Sometimes  national 
authority,  sometimes  States'  rights,  have  been  upheld  by  the 
decisions  of  the  Supreme  Court,  and  to  these  decisions  we  must 
look  to  see  what  these  rights  and  powers  are. 

(4)  States'  rights  have  also  been  defined  by  usage  and 
important  facts  in  our  national  life.  The  right  to  nullify  an 
act  of  Congress  and  the  right  to  secede  from  the  Union  have 
been  claimed  by  some  of  the  States.  The  greatest  debates 
in  American  history  arose  over  these  "rights."  It  seemed 
impossible  to  settle  by  argument  the  great  controversy  that 
arose  over  the  meaning  of  the  Constitution  on  these  points, 
but  it  has  now  been  settled  by  the  events  of  our  history,  espe- 
cially by  the  great  fact  of  the  Civil  War,  that  the  rights  of 
nullification  and  secession  do  not  belong  to  the  States.  The 
power  of  the  Supreme  Court  to  act  as  the  final  judge  of  the 
Constitution  and  to  tell  what  rights  belong  to  the  States  and 
what  to  the  nation  is  another  illustration  of  these  rights 
and  powers  being  determined  by  usage  and  the  events  of  our 
history  rather  than  by  written  law. 

(5)  Certain  positive  rights  and  privileges  are  guaranteed 
to  the  States  by  the  Federal  Constitution: 


148  THE   CITIZEN   AND  THE   REPUBLIC 

(a)  The  right  to  a  Republican  Form  of  Government.  This 
is  guaranteed  by  the  United  States  to  every  State  in  the  Union. 
If  rival  governments  are  set  up  in  a  State,  each  claiming  to 
be  the  rightful  one,  the  one  recognized  by  the  Federal  Govern- 
ment has  always  prevailed.  As  a  rule  the  Federal  Government 
will  not  interfere  in  such  a  conflict  until  circumstances  seem  to 
make  it  necessary.^ 

(b)  The  right  to  protection  against  invasion  and  domestic 
violence.  No  State  may,  of  its  own  right,  defend  itself  in 
war  with  another  State  or  with  a  foreign  power,  unless  it  is 
actually  invaded  or  is  in  such  imminent  danger  as  will  not 
admit  of  delay."-^  Therefore  the  State  has  a  right  to  rely 
upon  the  nation  for  protection  in  this  respect.  And  when 
it  comes  to  preserving  peace  and  safety  and  law  and  order 
within  a  State,  we  find  that  the  whole  power  of  the  nation 
may  be  arrayed.  (As  to  the  process  by  which  the  national 
Government  secures  this  right  to  the  States  see  p.  255.) 

(c)  It  is  the  right  of  every  State  to  have  equal  representa- 
tion with  every  other  State  in  the  United  States  Senate,  and 
of  this  right  no  State  can  be  deprived  except  by  its  own 
consent. 

(d)  Every  State  has  the  right  to  its  territorial  integrity. 
No  new  State  may  be  created  out  of  the  territory  of  one  of  the 
States,  nor  may  any  State  be  divided  nor  two  States  joined 
into  one  without  the  consent  of  the  State  or  States  concerned. 

As  States  have  rights,  privileges,  and  powers,  they  also  have 
duties  and  obligations. 

(i)  It  is  the  duty  of  every  State  to  surrender  criminals  or 
"fugitives  from  justice,"  escaping  from  other  States,  and  tak- 
ing refuge  within  its  borders.  The  criminal  is  "extradited" 
from  one  State  to  the  other,  as  a  criminal  may  be  from  one 
nation  to  another.     The  Governor  of  the  State /row  which  the 

1  See  Dorr's  Rebellion  in  Rhode  Island,  and  Woodburn's  Aincrican 
Republic  and  Its  Government,  pp.  172-173. 

2  Constitution,  Article  I,  Section  10,  Clause  3. 


THE  STATES  AND  THEIR  GOVERNMENT  149 

criminal  has  fled,  makes  a  demand  or  request  (issues  extradi- 
tion papers)  to  the  governor  of  the  State  to  which  the  alleged 
criminal  has  fled,  and  it  is  then  the  duty  of  the  latter  Governor 
to  issue  a  writ  authorizing  the  arrest  and  detention  of  the 
criminal  and  his  surrender  to  the  sheriff  or  constable  who  comes 
from  the  other  State  to  take  the  criminal  back  for  trial  and 
punishment. 

There  is  no  national  law  providing  for  the  capture  and 
return  of  a  criminal  fleeing  from  a  State,  and  no  State  can  be 
compelled  to  cooperate  in  the  matter.  But  interstate  comity 
(politeness  and  good  will)  has  nearly  always  led  to  the  full- 
fillment  of  this  duty  on  the  part  of  all  the  States.  No 
State  will  refuse  such  a  request  from  a  sister  State  unless  for 
some  special  or  political  reason.  It  was  thought  when  the 
Constitution  was  made  that  interstate  comity  and  good  will 
would  secure  the  return  of  fugitive  slaves  as  well  as  fugitive 
criminals,  but  the  anti-slavery  spirit  that  afterwards  arose, 
led  many  of  the  Northern  States  to  refuse  their  good  offices 
in  this  direction,  and  the  South  demanded  a  national  Fugitive 
Slave  Law  to  secure  the  return  of  their  slaves.  If  the  States 
should  act  in  the  same  way  toward  fugitive  criminals,  a 
national  Fugitive  Criminal  Law  might  be  called  for  and 
passed,  taking  upon  the  national  Government  the  duty 
which  the  States  were  refusing  to  fulfill. 

(2)  Another  duty  of  the  States  is  to  give  the  same  civil 
and  political  rights  to  the  citizens  of  other  States  as  they  give 
to  their  own  citizens.  A  State  may  not  discriminate  with  its 
privileges  and  burdens  in  its  treatment  of  citizens  of  the 
United  States.  It  cannot,  for  instance,  impose  higher  taxes 
on  the  property  within  the  State  that  may  be  owned  by 
citizens  of  other  States  than  is  imposed  on  its  own  citizens 
holding  similar  property. 

(3)  Each  State  is  bound  by  the  Constitution  to  "give  full 
faith  and  credit  to  the  public  acts,  records,  and  judicial  pro- 
ceedings of  every  other  State."     A  will,  a  deed,  an  inheritance 


Extradition  of 
Criminals 


150 


THE  CITIZEN   AND  THE   REPUBLIC 


The  States 
are  bound  by 
one  another's 
Acts  and 
Judicial 
Proceedings 


Duties  of 
the  States 


or  bequest  recognized  in  one  State  will  be  respected  or  enforced 
in  other  States.  A  record  of  naturalization  in  one  State  will 
hold  good  for  all  others.  The  facts  brought  out  in  a  case  at 
law  and  placed  in  the  court's  record  will  be  recognized  without 
retrial  in  any  other  State.  If  a  couple  are  married  in  one  State 
and  have  the  record  10  prove  it,  they  must  be  considered  as 
legally  married  in  every  other  State. 

Some  duties  of  the  States  are  taken  for  granted.  It  is,  of 
course,  their  duty  to  elect  Senators  and  Representatives  to 
Congress,  and  presidential  Electors  (otherwise  they  would 
paralyze  the  national  Government),  to  treat  one  another  with 
respect,  and  to  act  as  loyal  members  of  the  Union.  Without 
loyalty  and  cooperation  on  the  part  of  the  States,  the  United 
States  would  cease  to  exist. 


Form  of 
the  State 
Legislature 


Permanent 
Character  of 
the  State 
Senate 


The  State  Legislature 

Each  State  has  a  central  government  made  up  of  three 
departments,  the  legislative,  the  executive,  and  the  judicial. 

All  the  State  legislatures  are  bicameral  in  form.  The  mem- 
bers of  both  houses  are  chosen  by  popular  vote,  by  the  same 
voters,  but  in  electoral  districts  of  different  sizes  usually. 
The  upper  house,  or  State  Senate,  is  always  fewer  in  number 
than  the  lower  house,  so  the  senatorial  districts  are  fewer  and 
larger  than  the  representative  districts.  In  a  populous 
county,  from  which  several  members  of  both  houses  are  elected, 
they  may  all  be  elected  in  a  common  ticket  by  all  the  voters 
of  the  county.  The  senatorial  term  is  generally  longer  than 
that  of  the  representative.  If  the  representatives  are  elected 
for  two  years,  the  senators  are  elected  for  four  years. 

The  State  senate,  like  that  of  the  United  States,  is  a  "per- 
manent body,"  half  its  members  being  in  one  class  and  half 
in  another,  so  that  half  are  old  members  or  "  hold-over  sena- 
tors" who  sit  in  two  consecutive  legislatures.  The  eligible 
age  of  the  State  senator  is  usually  higher  than  that  of  the 
Representative,  and  in  earHer  days  when  property  was  the 


T 


fllfr' 


it* 


I   s  s  s  I  f  I  1  3    I  1 1 1  I  i"  n  ]  I ! !  i 
a  Tail  2  3;:  r  f  f  f  '.MlLlli^ 


State  Capitol,  St.  Paul,  Minnesota 


State  Capitol,  Albany,  New  York 


w 


THE   STATES  AND  THEIR  GOVERNMENT 


151 


basis  of  representation  he  was  required  to  possess  and  repre- 
sent more  property. 

State  senators  and  representatives  are  apportioned  among 
the  several  counties  of  the  State  according  to  population  and   Apportionment 

.  ,1  1     °^  *^^  state 

it  is  usually  provided  by  the  constitution  that  the  electoral  Legisiat»ire 
districts  be  equal  in  numbers  of  inhabitants,  but  the  "gerry- 
mander" used  for  partisan  purposes  often  prevents  fairness 
and  equality.  The  county  is  usually  regarded  as  the  electoral 
unit  and  some  State  constitutions  forbid  that  counties  should 
be  divided  in  making  up  electoral  districts.  In  the  North- 
eastern States  the  towns  (or  townships)  are  generally  recog- 
nized as  the  units  and  provision  is  made  for  the  representation 
of  towns  rather  than  numbers  of  people.  This  system  has  come 
down  from  early  colonial  times  when  settlements,  plantations, 
and  towns  were  represented  on  an  equality  in  the  legislature, 
the  Assembly  of  the  colony  being  somewhat  like  a  federation  of 
towns.  With  the  rise  of  cities  in  the  nineteenth  century  very 
great  inequalities  in  representation  came  about,  a  big  city  like 
New  Haven  in  Connecticut  having  no  more  representatives 
in  the  State  legislature  than  a  small  town  of  500  people. 

Senators  and  representatives  are  required,  either  by  the 
law  of  the  Constitution  or  by  custom,  to  Kve  in  the  districts 
which  they  represent. 

State  legislatures  vary  in  size,  from  fifty-two  in  the  whole 
legislature  of  Delaware  (seventeen  of  these  in  the  senate) 
to  321  in  the  House  of  Representatives  in  New  Hampshire. 
The  pay  of  members  also  varies,  from  one  dollar  a  day  in  Rhode 
Island  to  $1500  for  a  year  in  New  York.  Usually  the  pay  is 
on  a  per  diem  basis,  from  four  to  eight  dollars  a  day  and  mileage. 

The  legislature  is  the  law-making  body  for  the  State.  It 
may  create  offices  and  corporations,  grant  charters,  regulate 
the  local  government  in  counties  and  cities,  raise  and  expend 
money,  and  pass  all  kinds  of  laws  for  the  people  of  the  State 
which  are  not  forbidden  by  the  constitution  of  the  State  or 
of  the  United  States. 


Size  of 

State 

Legislatures 


Powers  of  the 
Legislature 


How  Laws 
are  made 


152  THE  CITIZEN   AND  THE   REPUBLIC 

A  l)ill,  which  is  the  (h-afl  of  a  law,  may  be  introduced  by  a 
member  into  either  house.'  The  bill  is  then  referred  to  the 
proper  committee  and  if  the  committee  is  favorable  to  its 
enactment  into  law  the  bill  is  reported  back  to  the  house 
with  a  recommendation  that  it  be  passed.  The  bill  having 
been  printed  then  comes  up  for  its  second  reading.  It  may 
be  rejected  or  amended,  but  if  the  majority  is  favorable  to  its 
passage  it  will  be  passed  to  engrossment;  that  is,  placed  in 
writing  on  the  record.  Later  the  bill  is  reported  to  the  house 
for  third  reading  and  passage.  Usually  a  bill  may  be  passed 
by  a  majority  of  the  quorum,  which  is  the  number  required 
by  the  constitution  for  the  transaction  of  business.  But 
some  constitutions  provide  that  a  majority  of  all  the  mem- 
bers elected  to  the  house  shall  be  required  for  the  passage 
of  a  bill.  On  the  final  vote  the  "yeas"  and  "nays"  of  the 
members  are  recorded,  as  a  means  of  placing  the  responsi- 
bility on  each  member  for  the  passage,  or  defeat,  of  legislation. 
After  a  bill  has  passed  one  house  it  is  received  by  the  other 
house,  where  it  goes  through  essentially  the  same  process. 
The  bill  may  be  amended  in  the  second  house.  If  this  occurs 
the  bill  must  go  back  to  the  house  which  first  passed  it,  to 
enable  that  house  to  consider  the  amendments.  If  the  houses 
disagree  on  the  form  of  the  bill  it  cannot  become  a  law,  unless, 
by  a  "conference  committee"  (a  committee  made  up  of 
members  of  both  houses),  the  two  houses  can  reconcile,  or 
compromise  their  differences  and  arrange  such  terms  in  the 
bill  as  both  houses  will  accept. 

If  the  Governor  signs  a  bill,  after  it  has  passed  both  houses, 
it  becomes  a  law  within  a  fixed  time  (it  may  be  60  or  90  days) 
after  the  adjournment  of  the  legislature.  If  the  bill  "declares 
an  emergency"  it  becomes  a  law  immediately  after  the  Gov- 
ernor's signature  is  attached.  If  the  Governor  should  veto 
the  bill,  as  the  State  constitution  usually  gives  him  power  to 

1  The  constitution  usually  requires  that  revenue  bills  shall  originate  in 
the  lower  house. 


THE  STATES  AND  THEIR  GOVERNMENT  153 

do,  then  the  bill  has  to  go  back  to  the  house  in  which  it  origi- 
nated for  reconsideration.  By  a  number  of  State  constitu- 
tions a  bare  majority  of  both  houses  may  pass  the  bill  over 
the  Governor's  veto;  by  other  constitutions  a  two-thirds 
majority  is  required. 

The   State  Executive 

The  Executive  Department  of  a  State  consists  of  the  Gov- 
ernor, the  Lieutenant  Governor,  and  certain  administrative 
officers,  such  as  the  Secretary  of  State,  Auditor  of  State, 
Treasurer  of  State,  Attorney  General,  Superintendent  of 
Public  Instruction.  There  are  also  a  number  of  Tax  Com- 
missioners, and  Boards  of  Control  for  educational  and  benevo- 
lent institutions,  either  appointed  by  the  Governor  or  elected    Administrative 

Officers 

by  the  legislature,  and  in  some  States  the  Regents,  or  Trustees 
of  the  State  universities,  are  elected  by  the  people. 

The  subordinate  State  officers,  like  the  Secretary,  Auditor, 
and  Treasurer  of  State  (usually)  hold  their  offices  independent 
of  the  Governor.  They  are  not  related  to  him  like  a  cabinet 
to  the  President  or  as  a  council  of  advisers,  though  the  law 
may  provide  that  the  Governor  with  two  or  three  of  these 
administrative  officers  may  compose  the  State  Finance  Board, 
or  other  Boards  which  may  exercise  very  important  functions 
in  caring  for  the  financial  and  general  welfare  of  the  State. 
But  the  work  of  these  administrative  officers  is  not  political; 
they  do  not  determine  the  public  policy  of  the  State,  but 
carry  out  certain  duties  laid  down  for  them  by  law.  The 
legislature  determines  the  policy  of  the  State  and  the  executive 
officers  are,  each  for  himself,  responsible  to  the  people.  The 
Governor  and  Attorney  General  may  bring  suit  against  one 
of  the  State  officers  for  malfeasance  or  misconduct,  and  thus 
cause  his  displacement,  or  he  may  be  impeached  by  the  process 
provided  for  in  the  State  Constitution. 

The  Governors  are  now  elected  by  a  direct  vote  of  the  people. 
Formerly  they  were,  in  some  States,  elected  by  the  legislature. 


154 


THE   CITIZEN   AND  THE   REPUBLIC 


Removal  of  the 
Governor 


Election,  Term,    xiiey  hold  officc  from  one  to  four  years  and  receive  salaries 
aary,  an  ranging  from  $2000  in  some  States  to  $10,000  per  year  in 

New  York.  They  are  removable  by  impeachment,  after  trial 
before  the  State  Senate  sitting  as  a  court,  or  before  a  court 
of  the  Judiciary. 

The  Governor  has  numerous  duties:  (i)  To  see  that  the  laws 
of  the  State  are  faithfully  executed  and  that  peace  and  order 
are  maintained.  If  local  officers  fail  in  their  duty  in  this 
respect  the  Governor  may  exercise  the  higher  and  full  powers 
of  the  State  conferred  upon  him  by  law.  (2)  To  convene  the 
legislature  when  occasion  requires  and  to  recommend  desirable 
legislation;  (3)  to  make  such  appointments  as  the  Constitution 
and  the  laws  allow;  (4)  to  act  as  commander-in-chief  of  the 
State  militia,  and  in  this  capacity  to  repel  invasion  and  suppress 
riot,  rebellion,  and  insurrection;  (5)  to  grant  reprieves  and 
pardons,  though  the  State  may  have  a  Board  of  Pardons  to 
consult  with  the  Governor  or  to  give  advice  and  recommen- 
dation on  cases  that  are  presented ;  (6)  to  issue  writs  for  the 
election  of  senators  and  representatives  when  vacancies 
occur;  (7)  to  secure  by  extradition  criminals  escaping  to 
other  States. 

We  do  not  attempt  here  to  name  all  the  duties  that  may 
be  imposed  upon  the  Governor  in  the  various  States.  Since 
he  is  often  a  member  of  a  number  of  administrative  State 
Boards  his  office  is  likely  to  be  a  hard-working  one,  subjecting 
him  to  constant  calls  and  duties.  He  is  honored  as  the  head 
of  the  State,  representing  its  official  dignity  on  public  occasion 
by  his  presence  and  address.  His  patronage  (by  appoint- 
ments) may  be  extensive,  though  his  office  for  the  most  part 
represents  prestige  rather  than  power.  In  times  of  strikes, 
riots,  or  resistance  to  law,  the  character  of  the  Governor 
becomes  of  vital  concern,  and  his  firmness,  wisdom,  and 
executive  energy,  or  his  lack  of  these  qualities,  may  be  most 
important  in  their  bearing  on  the  welfare  of  the  State.  The 
Governorship  in  one  of  the  leading  States  may  prove  to  be 


THE  STATES  AND  THEIR  GOVERNMENT 


155 


of  party  and  political  importance,  as  it  may  put  him  in  line 
for  political  promotion  to  the  Senatorship,  the  Vice  Presidency, 
or  the  Presidency. 

The  Governors  in  all  the  States  but  three  have  the  veto 
power.  In  some  States  his  veto  may  be  overridden  by  a 
bare  majority  of  the  legislature,  but  even  in  such  cases  the 
Governor's  veto  may  be  effective,  as  it  may  cause  delay  and 
public  exposure  of  a  bad  measure  and  lead  to  its  defeat  upon 
reconsideration.  The  Governor's  standing  with  the  people 
oftentimes  depends  upon  his  courageous  and  effective  use  of 
his  veto. 

The  Lieutenant  Governor  corresponds  to  the  Vice  President. 
In  most  of  the  States  he  is  ex  officio  the  President  of  the  State 
Senate,  and  to  this  his  functions  are  limited.  In  case  of  the 
death  or  disability  or  resignation  of  the  Governor  the  Lieu- 
tenant Governor  succeeds  to  the  governorship. 

The  power  to  remove  a  State  officer  is  vested  either  in  the 
Governor  or  the  Legislature,  or  it  is  done  by  the  Governor 
(without  option  on  his  part)  upon  address  by  both  houses  of 
the  legislature. 

The  State  Judiciary 

Each  State  has  a  judicial  system  of  its  own.  There  are 
Supreme  Courts,  Circuit  and  County  Courts,  intermediate 
appellate  courts.  Probate  Courts,  and  City  Police  Courts. 

In  earlier  days  the  State  judges  were  generally  appointed 
by  the  Executive,  as  the  United  States  judges  are  now,  or 
they  may  have  been  chosen  by  the  legislature.  Popular 
election  became  more  frequent  under  the  constitutions  of  the 
new  States  that  came  into  the  Union  in  the  era  and  under  the 
influence  of  Jeffersonian  democracy,  1801-1850.  The  judges 
are  now  elected  by  the  people  in  a  majority  of  the  States  (31 
out  of  48).  With  the  growth  of  the  democratic  spirit  the 
terms  of  the  judges  also  became  shorter.  Formerly  the  tenure 
was  usually  for  life  or  good  behavior,  as  now  in  the  United 


The  Governor's 
Veto 


Lieutenant 
Governor 


The  Removing 
Power 


An  Elective 
Judiciary 


156 


THE  CITIZEN   AND  THE   REPUBLIC 


Effect  of 
Popular 
Elections, 
Short  Terms, 
and  Low 
Salaries 


States  Courts.  Judges  could  be  removed  only  after  being 
convicted  upon  impeachment  or,  in  some  States,  upon  an  ad- 
dress requesting  their  removal  presented  by  both  houses  of 
the  legislature,  a  two- thirds  vote  being  required.  This  made 
the  judges  secure  in  their  ofl&ces  so  long  as  they  conducted 
themselves  in  a  manner  becoming  a  judge.  Now  in  many 
States  frequent  elections  occur,  and  new  and  untried  judges 
are  constantly  coming  to  the  bench,  unless  the  judge's  office 
is  treated  (as  it  should  be)  by  the  party  and  nominating 
forces  as  entirely  a  nonpartisan  and  nonpolitical  office.  The 
terms  of  the  judges  vary  from  two  years  in  Vermont  to 
twenty-one  years  in  Pennsylvania,  averaging  about  eight 
years  in  all  the  States.  The  salaries  vary  from  $2000  per 
year  in  Oregon  to  $17,500  per  year  in  New  York. 

It  is  contended  by  many  that  popular  election,  short  terms, 
and  low  salaries  have  had  a  very  bad  effect  in  lowering  the 
character  of  the  State  judiciary;  that  the  choice  of  judges  is 
really  thrown  into  the  hands  of  political  wire-pullers  and  that 
judicial  places  are  used  by  unscrupulous  politicians  for  party 
purposes  to  reward  party  workers;  that  short  terms  compel 
the  judges  to  keep  on  good  terms  with  the  political  manipu- 
lators and  they  cannot  therefore  administer  the  law  without 
fear  or  favor;  that  small  salaries  prevent  leading  lawyers  from 
accepting  the  judicial  office,  as  they  can  make  much  more 
money  in  their  practice.  As  the  result  of  all  these  influences 
it  is  asserted  that  the  judges  in  many  States  are  much  inferior 
to  the  lawyers  who  practice  before  them  and  much  inferior 
to  the  judges  of  earlier  times. 

On  the  other  hand  it  may  be  said  that  the  most  astute 
and  money  making  lawyers  may  not  make  the  best  judges; 
that  it  is  only  distance  that  "lends  enchantment"  to  the 
judges  of  a  past  age,  and  that  present-day  judges  are  just 
as  good,  and  that  our  State  courts  have  been  very  creditable 
bodies;  that  while  political  influences  may  affect  the  con- 
duct of  some  of   our  county  and  circuit   courts,  yet  wherein 


THE  STATES  AND  THEIR  GOVERNMENT  157 

this  is  so  it  does  not  gain  favor  for  the  judge  among  the  people; 
and  that  popular  election  may  have  its  advantages  in  restrain- 
ing a  judge  who  might  be  inclined  to  be  too  autocratic  or  to 
be  much  governed  by  class  interest.  And  since  State  judges 
also  have  power  to  declare  legislative  acts  unconstitutional 
they  may  be  governed  in  their  decisions  by  some  class  or 
poHtical  bias,  and  by  "judge-made  law"  they  may  attempt 
to  control  or  interfere  with  the  public  policy  of  the  State. 

State  judges  are  sworn  to  support  both  the  constitution  of 
the  State  and  of  the  United  States,  and  they  may  declare 
unconstitutional  not  only  an  act  of  the  State  legislature  but 
also  an  act  of  Congress.     In  the  latter  case  the  decision  would    state  Courts 

^  _  and  the 

not,  of  course,  be  final,  but  might  be  reviewed  and  reversed  constitution 
by  a  national  court.  It  is  the  special  function  of  the  State 
court  to  expound  the  State  constitution  and  explain  and  ap- 
ply the  State  law  in  cases  that  may  arise.  As  in  the  United 
States  courts,  the  State  judges  decide  on  constitutional  ques- 
tions only  as  cases  arise  in  suits  at  law.  This  may  cause  de- 
lay in  determining  whether  a  statute  is  really  valid  and  will 
continue  to  stand.  Some  States  in  order  to  meet  this  difficulty 
require  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  State  to  deliver  an  opinion 
on  the  constitutionality  of  an  act  immediately  upon  its  passage 
or  as  a  condition  of  its  passage.  Such  opinions,  however, 
cannot  have  the  same  weight  or  binding  effect  as  a  fmal 
official  decision  following  litigation,  and  a  judge  may  not  feel 
bound  in  his  final  decision  on  a  case  by  his  previously  expressed 
opinions.  Upon  hearing  a  case  at  law  the  judge  may  be 
influenced  by  what  appears  in  the  practical  working  of  the  act 
and  by  able  arguments  of  attorneys  in  the  case. 

Administration  of  Justice  and  the  Punishment  of  Crime 

It  is,  as  we  have  seen,  the  State  and  Local  Governments 
which  have,  in  the  far  larger  number  of  cases,  the  task  of 
repressing  crime  and  administering  justice.  It  is  in  the  city 
police  courts  or  the  State  circuit  courts  that  most  of  our 


158 


THE  CITIZEN  AND  THE   REPUBLIC 


Arrest  of 
Accused 


Examination 
of  Accused 


Grand  Jury 


The 
Trial 


Constitutional 
Rights  of 
Accused 


criminals  are  arraigned  and  punished  (or  not  punished)  and 
in  which  our  laws  are  efficiently  administered  or  are  allowed 
to  be  loosely  and  corruptly  applied.  The  Federal  Govern- 
ment has  jurisdiction  over  very  few  cases. 

An  offender  against  the  law,  or  an  accused  person,  may  be 
arrested  on  a  warrant  issued  by  the  proper  magistrate;  or 
he  may  be  arrested  by  an  officer  of  the  law  without  a  warrant 
if  he  is  caught  in  a  criminal  act. 

The  accused  is  brought  before  a  court  for  examination.  If 
there  is  no  evidence  of  his  guilt  he  will  be  set  at  liberty.  If  his 
guilt  seems  probable  the  court  will  order  the  accused  to  be 
committed  to  jail  to  await  the  action  of  the  grand  jury,  or  to 
be  admitted  to  bail;  that  is,  the  accused  will  be  allowed  to 
have  his  freedom  if  some  reliable  persons  become  security  for 
his  appearance  in  court  for  trial  or  investigation  when  desired. 
The  grand  jury,  a  varying  number  of  men,  will  inquire  into 
the  case  in  secret  session,  seeking  evidence  and  examining 
witnesses;  and  if  this  body  concludes  that  the  accused  is 
probably  guilty  he  will  be  formally  indicted.  The  public 
prosecutor  (prosecuting  attorney)  conducts  the  investigation 
before  the  grand  jury  and  he  will  draw  up  the  formal  charges 
or  "true  bill,"  and  later  prosecute  the  case  before  the  trial 
court.  The  indictment  sets  forth  the  nature  of  the  crime 
and  the  charges  which  it  is  proposed  to  prove. 

The  accused  is  then  arraigned  in  open  court  and  he  is 
asked  to  say  whether  he  is  guilty  or  not  guilty.  If  he  "pleads 
guilty"  (admits  his  guilt),  the  court  or  judge  decides  upon 
the  penalty.  If  he  pleads  "not  guilty,"  the  trial  proceeds 
unless  the  attorney  for  the  accused  by  successfully  objecting 
to  the  jurisdiction  of  the  court,  or  by  some  "plea  in  abate- 
ment," secures  a  dismissal  of  the  case.  The  trial  consists  of 
the  legal  investigation  of  the  evidence. 

A  man  accused  of  crime  has  certain  constitutional  rights: 
(i)  A  speedy  and  impartial  trial  before  an  impartial  jury. 
(2)   Compulsory  process   to  obtain   witnesses  in  his  favor. 


A  Court  Room  for  the  Trial  of  Cases 


Prisoners  Exercising  in  a  Prison  Yard 


AN  ACT 


Authorizing  cities  of  the  third  class  to  appropriate  money 
annually  for  music  in  public  parks  and  in  other 
public      places 

1  Section    1    Be    it    enacted    by    the    Senate    and    House    of    Repre- 

2  aentatives  of  the  Commonwealth  of  Pennsylvania  in  General  Aaaemblif 

3  met   and   it   is    hereby   enacted    by    the   authority    of   the   same   That 

4  from  and      after      the      passage      of     this      act      it      shall      be      law- 

5  ful     for     any     city     of     the     third     class     to     appropriate     public 

6  moneys      for      the      purpose      of      having      music      in      any      public 

7  park      or      place      At      the      time      of      making      of      the      annual 

8  appropriation      ordinance      any      city      council       in      a      city      of 

9  the      third      class      may      appropriate      such      sum      of      money      as 

10  in     their     judgment     shall     be     necessary      for      the     purpose     of 

11  supplying     music     in     any     public     park     or     place 


y^ 


Spewker  t)f  the  House  of  Representatives. 


Approved- 


— The.r.xt-.,*^^^.. 


.day  of. 


...A.  D.  1017. 


L^ 


Facsimile  of  a  St'ate  Law 


THE   STATES  AND  THEIR  GOVERNMENT  159 

Those  who  know  circumstances  in  his  favor  may  not  be 
allowed  to  absent  themselves  from  the  trial  or  to  refuse  to 
testify.  (3)  A  copy  of  the  accusation  against  him.  (4)  To  have 
counsel  (a  lawyer)  for  his  defense  and  to  be  confronted  by  the 
witnesses  against  him.  (5)  He  may  not  be  twice  placed  on 
trial  (in  jeopardy)  for  the  same  offense.  (6)  He  is  presumed 
innocent  until  proven  guilty. 

The  petit  jury  is  the  trial  jury,  —  a  body  of  twelve  men  The  Peat 
legally  selected  to  hear  the  evidence  and  decide  the  case.  ^"^ 
The  judge  instructs  the  jury  how  to  decide  "according  to  the 
law  and  the  evidence."  That  is,  the  judge  explains  the  law 
to  the  jury  and  the  jury  decides  on  the  facts  of  the  case.  The 
members  of  the  jury  are  sworn  to  try  the  case  according  to 
the  evidence.  Before  the  trial  begins  both  the  prosecution 
and  the  defense  may  object  for  valid  reasons  to  certain 
talesmen  serving  on  the  jury,  and  each  side  is  also  allowed 
a  certain  number  of  "peremptory  challenges."  That  is, 
they  may  exclude  certain  talesmen  arbitrarily.  Sometimes, 
in  this  way,  the  jury  is  "fixed"  to  "hang,"  that  is,  to 
come  to  no  decision,  and  there  is  delay,  another  trial,  and 
added  expense. 

The  trial  consists  of  hearing  the  witnesses  under  the  exami- 
nation and  cross-examination  of  attorneys;  the  arguments 
of  the  lawyers;  the  charge  of  the  judge  to  the  jury;  and  the 
jury's  deliberation  and  decision.  In  criminal  cases  the 
verdict  of  the  jury  must  be  unanimous,  and  this  often  results 
in  the  "hanging"  of  the  jury,  when  eleven  "stubborn  men" 
will  not  agree  with  the  one  who  may  object  to  a  verdict  of 
guilty.  Under  the  jury  system  it  is  made  difficult  to  convict 
a  criminal  from  the  fact  that  the  prosecution  must  prove 
"beyond  a  reasonable  doubt"  every  charge  brought  in  the 
indictment,  and  sometimes  the  indictment  is  not  properly 
drawn  up.  If  the  jury's  verdict  is  one  of  acquittal  the  ac-  The 
cused  is  immediately  discharged.  If  it  is  one  of  conviction,  Verdict 
the  attorney  for  the  accused  may  make  a  motion  for  a  new 


i6o 


THE   CITIZEN   ANi:)  THE   REPUBLIC 


trial  or  appeal  to  a  higher  court,  and   sometimes  the  culprit 
is  released  by  a  technicality  in  the  trial. 

Because  under  the  jury  system  guilty  murderers  are  so 
often  set  free,  and  because  there  is  so  often  a  "miscarriage  of 
justice,"  and  the  prejudices  of  jurymen  are  played  upon  by 
skillful  attorneys,  and  sometimes  are  corruptly  influenced, 
many  people  have  lost  respect  for  the  "sacred  right  of  trial 
by  jury."  A  demand  has  arisen  for  court  and  jury  reform, 
to  prevent  abuses  and  delays,  if  need  be  by  modifying  the 
form  and  method  of  the  trial  and  verdict.  Many  States  in 
civil  cases  (involving  property  and  money)  allow  a  verdict 
by  less  than  the  whole  jury.  In  criminal  cases  where  life  and 
liberty  are  involved,  the  theory  (and  seemingly  the  practice) 
of  our  legal  procedure  is  that  it  is  thought  better  that  ninety- 
nine  guilty  persons  should  escape  than  that  one  innocent 
person  should  be  convicted.  What  is  needed  is  quick, 
decisive,  and  just  action  by  the  courts,  not  that  punishment 
should  be  more  severe  or  extreme  (and  never  cruel),  but  that 
it  should  be  speedy  and  certain  and  administered  with  a  view 
to  reforming  the  offender  and  fitting  him  for  better  citizenship. ^ 

Defects  and  Failures  of  State  Governments 

Some  fundamental  changes  in  State  Government  have  fre- 
quently been  discussed.-  The  Governor  of  Arizona  recom- 
mended a  small  unicameral  legislature  of  from  five  to  fifteen 
members,  since  the  State  is  working  under  the  initiative  and 
referendum  (see  p.   36).     The   Governor  of  Washington  pro- 


^  The  study  of  criminology  is  beyond  the  scope  of  this  book,  but  the 
student  who  may  be  interested  in  the  subject  of  the  prevention  of  crime 
and  the  treatment  of  criminals  may  profitably  consult,  in  addition  to 
text-books  in  Sociology,  Havelock  Ellis's  The  Criminal,  A.  C.  Hall's  Crime 
in  its  Relation  lo  Social  Progress,  and  C.  R.  Henderson's  The  Dependent, 
Defective  and  Criminal  Classes. 

2  Notice  the  Proceedings  and  Results  of  the  New  York  Constitu- 
tional Convention  of  1915. 


THE   STATES  AND  THEIR   GOVERNMENT  l6l 

posed  a  single  chamber  of  twenty-five  members.  The  Governor 
of  Kansas  suggested  a  small  legislature  of  one  house  for  a  term 
of  four  or  six  years  with  the  Governor  as  a  member.  Such 
proposals  have  come,  no  doubt,  from  observation  of  the  suc- 
cessful experiment  of  cities  with  the  commission  plan  of  city 
government. 

These  and  other  proposals  suggest  vital  changes  that  go  to 
the  very  root  of  the  whole  system  of  State  governments  and 
they  come  from  a  feeling  that  these  governments  have  failed 
to  satisfy  the  needs  of  the  States.  It  is  apparent  that  in 
many  ways  our  State  governments  are  inefficient  and  ex- 
travagant. The  official  life  of  the  State  is  without  leader- 
ship, without  unity,  without  clear  and  direct  responsibility 
to  the  people.  The  State  governments  arose  at  a  time  when 
men  were  suspicious  of  government  and  their  officers.  Our 
fathers  wished  to  restrain  their  governing  agencies  and  bind 
them  down  with  constitutional  restrictions.  They  wanted  a 
government  lliat  was  powerless  to  do  harm,  —  the  best  was 
the   one  that  did   the  least  (see  p.   76).     The    Constitution    Early  Fear  of 

too  much 

was  for  the  purpose  of  tying  the  hands  of  a  bad  Legislature    official  Power 
or  a  bad  Governor  rather  than  to  make  it  essential  to  the 
people  to  elect  good  ones. 

It  was  for  this  reason  that  our  fathers  sought  to  divide 
their  government  into  three  parts  ("separation  of  the  powers,"    Obstnjcdons 
see  p.  199),  each  to  prevent  the  other  from  going  astray, —   state 
the  Governor  to  veto  the  legislature,  the  legislature  to  check   Governments 
the  Governor,  the  courts  to  protect  the  people  from  executive 
and  legislative  abuses,  with  the  constitution  over  all  to  require 
certain  methods  of  behavior  and  to  safeguard  the  people  against 
any  form  of  official  misconduct.     This  distrust  of  government 
was   erected   into   a   system,  —  the   system   of   "checks   and 
balances"    which    is    based,    as    Mr.    Bryce    has    said,    on 
the   "doctrine    of    original    sin   in   politics,"  —  that    no    one 
can  be  safely  intrusted  with   any  substantial  authority.     It 
represented  the  Jefifersonian  faith  that  "free  government  is 


l62  THE  CITIZEN   AND  THE   REPUBLIC 

founded  in  jealousy,  while  confidence  is  everywhere  the  parent 
of  despotism."  ^ 

What  Jefferson  had  in  mind  here  was  the  vital  idea  that 
"eternal  vigilance  is  the  price  of  hberty"  and  that  the  people 
should  not  go  to  sleep  in  serene  confidence  that  their  elected 
rulers  will  be  sure   to  manage   their  government  well.     He 
wished  the  officers  of  government  to  be  frequently  responsible 
to  the  people,  and  he  was  reluctant  to  intrust  to  them  much 
real  power. 
The  result  has  been  a  weakness,  almost  a  breakdown,  in  our 
Lack  of  Unity,     gtate  governments  on  the  positive  side.     The  lack  of  unity, 
Constrictive       rcsponsibifity,  and  recognized  leadership  has  prevented  con- 
Power  structive  work  from  being  done,  and  the  system  of  "  checks  and 

balances,"  originally  designed  for  democratic  reasons,  has 
really  prevented  a  real  democratic  popular  control  of  the 
State  government.  The  State  service  is  costly,  the  work  is 
poorly  done,  there  is  lack  of  cooperation  between  officers, 
there  is  failure  to  get  before  the  legislature  the  facts  essential 
to  appropriations  and  legislation,  —  and  through  all  a  lack  of 
unity  and  responsibility.  The  legislature  has  control  over  the 
State  finances  and  over  the  creation  and  powers  of  many 
offices.  The  Governor  lacks  control  over  executive  and  ad- 
ministrative action.  Many  State  officers  are  elected  who 
are  not  at  all  accountable  to  the  Governor  and  who  exercise 
within  their  respective  spheres  very  important  executive 
powers.  There  is  a  large  increase  of  State  activities,  with 
many  commissions,  boards,  and  new  departments  with  many 
administrative  powers,  but  without  any  central  or  head  con- 
trol lodged  in  a  chief  administrator,  like  the  Governor. 

No  big  business  firm  is  ever  managed  so.  In  such  a  firm 
there  is  always  a  chief  or  head  or  foreman  with  power  to  oversee 
and  direct.  Responsible  leadership  and  effective  collective 
action  are  just  as  essential  in  a  State's  government.  Somebody 
must  direct  and  lead  and  say  what  shall  be  done.  But  our 
1  Jefferson  in  the  Kentucky  Resolutions,  1798. 


THE   STATES  AND  THEIR  GOVERNMENT  163 

ordinary  State  constitution,  with  its  system  of  divided  powers 
and  responsibilities,  tends  to  prevent  this.  Consequently  there 
has  grown  up  an  outside  non-official  irresponsible  partisan 
organization,  —  the  party  machine,  with  the  Boss  at  its  head, 
—  with  a  dominating  influence  in  determining  the  conduct  of 
the  legislature.  This  has  led  to  "log-rolling"  legislation  and 
"pork  barrel"  politics.  The  legislators  vote  to  satisfy  their 
constituencies  in  small  geographical  areas  or  "to  make  them- 
selves solid"  in  their  own  localities  by  furthering  schemes  of 
mere  local  interest  and  development,  or  to  carry  out  party 
obligations  (assumed  by  the  party  leader)  to  certain  moneyed 
interests.  The  tax  system,  the  school  system,  road  building, 
the  suffrage  laws,  home  rule  for  cities,  the  labor  laws,  social 
betterment,  control  of  pubHc  utilities  in  the  interest  of  all  the 
people,  —  all  these  and  other  larger  questions  of  State  often 
are  allowed  to  "go  by  the  board"  while  local  log-rolling 
interests  or  party  interests  are  carefully  safeguarded. 

The  real  leadership  is  in  the  Boss  who  is  in  control  of  the 
legislature,  and  who  from  his  hotel  room  issues  instructions 
as  to  what  the  "organization"  wants  done.  The  legislators 
who  want  offices  and  party  nominations  and  who  are  at  the 
head  of  important  committees  in  the  legislature,  line  up  to 
vote  as  the  Boss  instructs,  or  as  the  party  caucus  decides,    ^°^' 

11  1       •     n  r    1       T.  •     1-1     1  1  11  -i-  Leadership  and 

and  there  the  mtluence  of  the  Boss  is  likely  to  be  all-prevailing,  "invisible 
So  the  Governor  representing  the  people  is  not  the  leader,  but  Government" 
the  Boss  representing  the  party  organization,  who  may  have 
"made"  the  Governor  by  permitting  his  nomination  by  the 
party,  is  the  real  leader.  This  Boss  is  sometimes  corrupt  and, 
working  in  the  dark,  gives  us  the  "invisible  government" 
that  really  controls  the  legislation  and  policy  of  the  State. 

Proposed  Reforms  of  State  Government 

What  is  the  remedy?  It  is  proposed  to  make  constitutional 
provision  for  official  leadership  and  to  locate  this  leadership 
in  the  Governor  of  the  State.     There  can  be  no  intelligent 


164 


THE  CITIZEN    AND  THE   REPUBLIC 


Need  of 

Executive 

Leadership 


A  Ministerial, 
Responsible 
Cabinet 
Government 
proposed  for 
the  State 


government  without  leadership.  The  party  is  an  efficient 
organization,  unified  and  under  leadership,  with  its  central 
and  local  committees  and  workers  all  cooperating  to  control 
the  State  and  its  policies.  The  Boss  represents  this  organiza- 
tion and  he  will  be  the  State  leader  until  the  people  provide 
for  themselves  a  better  one.  The  people  have  not  voted 
to  put  this  Boss  in  power,  but  he  wields  a  power  which  the 
people  cannot  take  away  except  by  turning  his  party  out  of 
power,  and  then  the  people  would  still  be  governed  by  a 
Boss,  with  only  a  change  of  party  name. 

Instead  of  this  Boss  control  and  leadership  it  is  proposed 
to  make  the  Governor  both  the  leader  of  the  party  and  the 
constitutional  official  leader  of  the  State,  to  direct  the  State's 
policy  so  long  as  the  people  will  sustain  him.  To  do  this,  it 
has  been  proposed  to  make  a  fundamental  constitutional 
readjustment  between  the  legislature  and  the  Governor, 
on  the  one  hand,  and  the  Governor  and  the  administrative 
officers  on  the  other.  It  is  proposed  to  introduce  a  modified 
form  of  parliamentary  government.  The  constitutional  change, 
as  proposed,  would  allow  the  people  to  elect  by  the  Short 
Ballot  (see  p.  45)  the  responsible  head  of  the  State,  the 
Governor,  and  the  Lieutenant  Governor.  The  other  adminis- 
trative officers  (Secretary  of  State,  Auditor  of  State,  Treasurer 
of  State,  Attorney  General,  etc.)  would  become  a  Cabinet  to 
the  Governor,  appointed  by  him  and  subject  to  his  removal. 
The  Governor  and  his  advisers,  the  Cabinet,  are  to  be  em- 
powered to  originate  policies  and  bills,  to  present  them  to  the 
legislature,  and  to  defend  them  there.  The  making  of  the 
Budget  —  determining  how  much  money  shall  be  raised  and 
how  it  shall  be  raised  —  is  to  be  transferred  from  the  legis- 
lature and  its  committees  to  the  Governor  and  his  Cabinet. 
.  This  would  tend  to  make  the  Governor  an  official  State  political 
leader,  who,  as  leader  of  the  majority  party,  would  become 
responsible  for  the  policy  and  efficiency  of  the  State  govern- 
ment.    The  Governor  and  his  advisers  would  decide  and  act 


THE  STATES  AND  THEIR  GOVERNMENT  165 

for  the  people  of  the  whole  State,  responsive  to  and  under  the 
guidance  of  pubUc  opinion.  It  is  beheved  that  this  would 
introduce  order,  efficiency,  and  integrity  and  destroy  the 
corrupt  unofficial  despotism  of   the   Boss. 

It  is  claimed  that  this  would  bring  the  voters  into  direct   Direct  Popular 

^  Control  through 

control  of  their  State  government.  It  would  increase  the  value  Executive 
of  their  State  government  in  their  estimation  and  add  to  their  leadership 
interest  in  their  own  government.  Their  attention  would  be 
invited  and  concentrated,  and  their  understanding  and  public 
spirit  appealed  to.  Voting  would  be  conducted  for  public  in- 
terests, not  for  personal  or  private  interests.  "The  system 
which  will  be  framed  to  accomplish  positive  policies  will 
cultivate  in  the  voter  positive  political  convictions.  It  will 
encourage  the  development  of  leaders  capable  of  formulating 
and  realizing  these  popular  convictions.  It  will  concentrate 
public  opinion  at  elections  on  the  work  of  the  Government 
already  done  or  on  the  work  proposed  for  the  future,  and  the 
State  government  will  become  a  government  of  the  people, 
reflecting  their  preferences  and  convictions."  ^ 

TOPICS   AND    QUERIES 

1.  Debate:  "Resolved  that  the  Canadian  Federal  sj'stcm  is  better  than 

the  American." 

2.  "The  Union  is  older  than  any  of  the  States,  and,  in  fact,  it  created 

them  as  States"  —  Lincoln's  Message,  July  4,   1861.     Prove  that 
this  is  true  to  history,  or  untrue. 

3.  In   what  respect  is   the  power  residing  in  a  State  legislature  like 

that  of  the  Parliament  of  England?     In  what  respect  different? 

4.  Are  the  "rights  of  the  States"  more  or  less  than  they  were  in  1789? 

Why? 

5.  Why  have  State  governments  been  growing  weaker  and  the  national 

government  strongei-?     What  have  economic  and  social  changes 
had  to  do  with  this? 

6.  How  is  "invisible  government"   to  be  checked  in  State  legislatures? 

*  The  New  Republic,  August  14,  1915.  See  also  Professor  C.  A. 
Beard  on  Reconstructing  State  Government,  in  The  New  Republic  of 
August  21,  1915,  and  Bulletin  61  of  the  Bureau  of  Municipal  Research, 
and  Herbert  Croly's  Promise  of  American  Life. 


1 66  THE  CITIZEN   AND  THE   REPUBLIC 

7.  Why  would  it  not  have  been  better  for  the  South  to  have  won  in  the 
Civil  War,  so  as  to  have  preserved  more  local  self-government 
against  the  growth  of  national  powers? 

REFERENCES 

Ashley,  Roscoe  L.    The  American  Federal  State,  pp.  344-362. 

Beard,  C.  A.    American  Government  and  Politics,  Part  III,  pp.  428-577. 

A  full  discussion  of  State  government. 
Beard,  C.  A.    Readings    in    American    Government    and    Politics,    pp. 

391-492. 
Bryce,  James.    The    American    Commonwealth,    Vol.    I,    Part    II,    pp. 

41 1-5 1 7.     Of  special  value. 
Childs,  Richard  S.,  "  The  State  Manager  Plan,"  in  The  National  Municipal 

Review,  November,  191 7. 
Forman,  S.  E.    Advanced   Civics,   pp.    162-183,   "Suggestive   Questions 

and  Exercises." 
Guitteau,  William  B.   Government   and    Politics   in   the     United   States, 

Chaps.  VII-XI,  pp.  74-128.     See  the  References  and  Questions. 
Hinsdale,  B.  A.    The   American  Government,   pp.   369-391. 
Holcombe,  A.  N.    State  Government  in  the  United  States. 
Mathews,  John  M.    Principles  of  American  State  Administration. 
McCleary,  James  T.    Studies  in  Civics,  pp.   71-104.     Brief  summary 

with  "pertinent  questions." 
Reinsch,  Paul  R.    American   Legislatures  and   Legislative  Methods. 
Reinsch,  Paul  S.    Readings  on  American  State  Governments,  pp.   1-14, 

"The    Governor";    pp.    41-56,     "The    Legislature"    (Samuel    P. 

Orth);  pp.  140-157,  "The  Judiciary." 
Roosevelt,  Theodoae.    American  Ideals,  "Phases  of  State  Legislation." 
Woodburn,  James  A.    The    American    Republic    and    its    Government, 

pp.  342-361.     A  brief  presentation. 


CHAPTER  VII 

THE  GOVERNMENT  OF  TERRITORIES  AND 
DEPENDENCIES 

The  government  of  our  Territories  and  Dependencies  is 
under  the  control  of  Congress.  The  Constitution  gives  to 
that  body  "power  to  dispose  of  and  make  all  needful  rules 
and  regulations  respecting  the  territory  and  other  property 
belonging  to  the  United  States."  The  Constitution  did  not 
expressly  give  the  power  to  acquire  territory,  but  that  power 
has  resulted  from  the  inherent  nature  of  the  Constitution  and 
of  the  national  government  created  by  it. 

All  of  the  contiguous  continental  Territories  have  now 
been  admitted  as  States.  In  the  beginning  of  the  Union  the 
old  Continental  Congress,  as  a  means  of  inducing  the  States 
to  cede  to  the  United  States  the  lands  which  they  claimed  in 
the  West,  passed  a  notable  resolution  (Oct.  1780),  promising 
not  to  hold  the  lands  as  subject  Territories  but  to  erect  them 
"into  equal  republican  States  to  be  admitted  to  the  Union 
with  all  the  rights  and  privileges"  that  the  other  States 
enjoyed.     According  to  this  the  custom  has  been  for  Con-    ^"^^  Organiz- 

J    J  o  Ing  Acts  for 

gress    to    erect   out   of   newly   acquired    territory  separately    Territories. 

organized  Territories,  to  provide  civil  government  for  them 

(by  an  Organizing  Act),  giving  each  Territory  a  large  measure 

of  self-government,  and  when  it  has  acquired  a  population 

equal  to  the  number  entitled  to  elect  a  member  of  Congress, 

to  admit  the  Territory  to  statehood.^ 

1  When  the  Ordinance  of  1787  was  passed  (which  was  the  first 
territorial  organizing  act  of  Congress)  to  provide  a  civil  government 
for  the  Old  Northwest,  it  was  provided  that  one  of  its  Territories  might 

167 


1 68 


THE   CITIZEN   AND  THE    REPUBLIC 


Colonialism  or 
Imperialism. 


How  a 
Territory 
Became  a 
State 


This  guarantee  of  self-governing  statehood  was  given  in 
the  case  of  all  acquisitions  of  territory  until  1898,  when  by 
the  Spanish-American  war  the  Insular  Possessions  were  ob- 
tained. That  treaty  of  acquisition  permitted  that  these 
islands  might  be  governed  by  Congress  as  Dependencies. 
The  privileges  and  guarantees  of  the  Constitution  were  not 
extended  to  these  islands  either  by  the  treaty  or  by  the 
Constitution's  own  power  {ex  propria  vigore),  but  a  resolu- 
tion of  Congress  might  extend  these  privileges  at  any  time. 
Until  this  is  done  the  people  of  these  islands  are  not  citi- 
zens but  subjects  of  the  United  States,  and  the  islands  are 
under  the  absolute  power  of  Congress  without  restraint  by 
the  limitations  of  power  imposed  by  the  Constitution.  It 
was  decided  by  the  Supreme  Court  in  what  is  known  as  the 
"insular  cases"  that  these  islands  were  not  a  part  of  the 
United  States  but  were  possessions  of  the  United  States, 
and  because  of  this  it  was  charged  that  America  had  started 
toward  imperialism;  that  from  being  made  up  of  self- 
governing  colonies  and  States  we  had  now  come  to  hold 
foreign  peoples  in  subjection} 

When  a  continental  Territory  was  ready  for  statehood  its 
Legislature  petitioned  Congress  by  a  "memorial"  to  pass  an 
"enabling  act."  This  act  enabled,  or  authorized,  the  people 
of  the  Territory  to  elect  a  constitutional  convention  for  the 

be  admitted  to  the  Union  when  it  had  attained  a  population  of  60,000. 
This  required  number  increased  from  decade  to  decade  as  successive 
apportionment  acts  required  a  larger  population  for  each  congressman. 
(See  p.  272.)  Nevada  was  admitted  in  1864,  before  it  had  a  sufficient 
population,  in  order  to  secure  enough  States  to  ratify  the  Thirteenth 
Amendment;  and  some  Territories  have  been  kept  out  for  party 
reasons  after  having  more  than  the  required  number. 

1  The  people  of  Porto  Rico  have  been  made  citizens  by  act  of  Con- 
gress. See  p.  5.  The  inhabitants  of  the  recently  "acquired  Danish 
Islands  became  citizens  of  the  United  States  by  the  treaty  of  acquisition 
(1917),  except  in  the  case  of  those  who  might  choose  within  a  year  to 
retain  their  Danish  citizenship.  Very  few  chose  to  remain  subjects  of 
Denmark. 


TERRITORIES  AND   DEPENDENCIES 


169 


purpose  of  framing  a  State  Constitution.  When  this  had 
been  drawn  up  and  ratified  by  the  people  of  the  Territory  (a 
privilege  usually  allowed  to  the  voters)  it  was  presented  for 
the  approval  of  Congress.  If  Congress  approved,  a  resolu- 
tion was  passed  accepting  the  new  State,  and  if  the  President 
did  not  interpose  his  veto  but  signed  the  admitting  act,  the 
Secretary  of  State  would  be  authorized  to  declare  the  formal 
act  of  admission.^ 

Congress  has  provided  a  government  for  Alaska  and  the  Alaska 
Island  Dependencies.  Since  191 2  Alaska  has  had  a  Governor, 
appointed  by  the  President,  and  a  representative  legislature, 
though  its  legislative  powers  are  quite  limited  and  much  of 
the  government  is  administered  directly  from  Washington. 
The  War  Department  controls  the  telegraph  lines  and  the 
means  of  communication,  while  the  schools  for  the  natives 
are  administered  by  the  Bureau  of  Education.  Territorial 
self-government  is  yet  to  be  allowed  to  Alaska. 

1  To  its  original  territory  the  United  States  has  made  additions  as 
follows: 


Country 

Territory  "acquired" 

Year 

from  which 
acquired 

Method  of  acquisition 

Louisiana 

1803 

France 

Purchase 

Florida 

1819 

Spain 

Purchase 

Texas 

184s 

Annexation 

Oregon 

1846 

Boundary  fixed  by  treaty 

First   Mexican   Cession 

1848 

Mexico 

Conquest  and  treaty 

Gadsden  Purchase 

1S53 

Mexico 

Purchase 

Alaska 

1867 

Russia 

Purchase 

Hawaii 

1898 

Annexation 

Philippines,  Guam,  and 

Porto  Rico 

1899 

Spain 

Conquest  and  treaty 

Tutuila  Island 

1899 

Treaty  arrangement 

Danish  West  Indies 

1917 

Denmark 

Purchase 

170  THE   CITIZEN   AND  THE   REPUBLIC 

Hawaii  In  Hawaii,  annexed  in  1898,  the  legislature  is  composed  of 

two  houses,  the  "Senate"  and  the  "House."  The  Senate 
is  composed  of  fifteen  members  elected  for  a  term  of  four 
years.  The  islands  are  divided  into  four  districts,  each  district 
electing  from  two  to  four  Senators  according  to  population. 
The  House  of  Representatives  has  thirty-six  members,  elected 
every  two  years  from  six  districts,  the  districts  choosing 
from  four  to  six  members.  The  voting  privilege  is  conferred 
only  upon  male  citizens  of  the  United  States  who  are  twenty- 
one  years  of  age,  who  have  resided  in  the  territory  one  year 
and  in  the  district  three  months.  The  voter  must  be  registered 
and  be  able  to  read  or  write  either  the  English  or  the  Hawaiian 
language.  This  eliminates  the  large  numbers  of  Chinese  and 
Japanese  in  the  islands. 

Porto  Rico  By  an  act  of   1900  Congress  provided  for  the  government 

of  Porto  Rico.  This  provided  for  a  Governor  for  a  term  of 
four  years,  to  be  appointed  by  the  President,  by  and  with  the 
advice  and  consent  of  the  Senate.  The  President  was  author- 
ized to  appoint  six  other  officers:  a  Secretary,  Attorney 
General,  Treasurer,  Auditor,  Commissioner  of  the  Interior,  and 
Commissioner  of  Education.  Each  of  these  presides  over  a 
Department.  They  with  five  other  persons  appointed  by  the 
President  and  confirmed  by  the  Senate,  constitute  the  upper 
house  of  the  Porto  Rican  legislature,  which  is  known  as  the 
Executive  Council.  Five  members  of  this  Council  must  be 
native  Porto  Ricans;  so  far  the  other  six  have  been  Americans. 
The  lower  house  of  the  legislature,  known  as  the  house  of 
delegates,  consists  of  thirty-five  members,  elected  by  districts 
every  two  years. 

This  Porto  Rican  legislature  is  given  the  power  to  determine 
the  qualifications  for  the  franchise.  It  has  decided  {1904) 
that  all  male  persons  twenty-one  years  of  age  may  vote  if 
they  have  resided  in  the  island  one  year  and  in  the  district 
six  months,  and  that  no  person  could  acquire  the  right  to  vote 
after  July  i,  1906,  unless  he  could  read  or  write  either  English 


ExECUTH'E  Building,  Honolulu,  Hawaii 


Federal  Building,  San  Juan,  Porto  Rico 


Government  Building,  Manila,  P.  I. 


Paying  $25,000,000  for  the   Danish  West  Indies,   March,    191 7 
The  transaction  occurred  in  the  famous  Diplomatic  Room  in  the  State  Department. 


5i-.^U'>  fo(i;.-  c^.',v,....w..a-or'r>c.'..,t.^,«i  ..>  .^oV  for  fell  ;..-C9zKcr<.  ^5'V|'rfU 

ofif.c    'Pa...'.-.!'   ^'JC-ol- :<.i.So.,  .'•.•.(l^.ic*?  loiili  <^5t',il'ir**  5l-<vt-j>.  ...^.tv^^ 


r^' 


Receipt  for  the  $25,000,000  Paid  for  the  Danish  West  Indies 


TERRITORIES  AND   DEPENDENCIES  17I 

or  Spanish.  There  have  been  some  conflicts  between  the 
House  of  Delegates  and  the  Executive  Council  over  the  finan- 
cial budget,  but  these  have  been  adjusted  and  now  American 
citizenship  has  been  conferred  by  Congress  upon  the  Porto 
Ricans  (191 7). 

These  Islands,  acquired  by  the  war  with  Spain  in  1898,  The 
had  a  miHtary  government  until  1901.  The  executive  au-  Pi^iiippi'^es 
thority  in  the  islands  was  turned  over  on  July  4,  1901,  to 
Mr.  W.  H.  Taft,  the  President  of  the  Phihppine  Commission, 
which  had  been  created  by  Congress.  In  October,  1907, 
the  first  representative  assembly  for  the  Philippines  met. 
At  the  head  of  the  Philippine  government  is  a  Governor 
appointed  by  the  President.  There  are  four  Executive 
Departments,  with  a  Secretary  presiding  over  each:  Interior, 
Commerce  and  Police,  Finance  and  Justice,  and  Pubhc 
Instruction.  These  Secretaries,  with  the  Governor  and  four 
others  appointed,  constitute  the  Philippine  Commission, 
which  is  also  the  upper  house  of  the  legislature.  The  lower 
house  consists  of  eighty  members  elected  from  the  civilized 
portions  of  the  Islands.  A  voter  must  be  twenty-three  years 
of  age,  a  tax-paying  property  owner,  or  able  to  read,  write,  or 
speak  English.  Under  President  Wilson's  administration  a 
majority  of  the  Commission  have  become  Filipinos.  There 
has  been  some  agitation  for  independence,  —  "  the  Philippines 
for  the  FiHpinos,"  and  there  are  opportunities  for  quarrels 
between  the  American  Governor  and  the  legislature,  but  the 
leading  FiHpinos  see  the  importance,  if  not  the  necessity,  of 
retaining  American  government  until  the  Filipinos  become 
better  prepared  for  self-government.  Then  they  may  not 
desire  independence,  but  may  be  given  statehood  instead. 
The  Islands  have  a  judiciary,  consisting  of  lower  courts  and  a 
supreme  court,  the  latter  consisting  of  seven  members,  Ameri- 
cans and  Filipinos  appointed  by  the  President. 

American    government    in    the    Philippines    has    brought 
about  a  prosperity  and  advancement  such  as  the  Islands  had 


172  THE   CITIZEN   AND  THE   REPUBLIC 

never  known  before.  Public  works  and  good  roads  have 
been  built,  modern  methods  of  hygiene  and  sanitation  have 
been  applied,  and  the  industry  and  commerce  of  the  Islands 
have  been  promoted.  The  good  school  system  organized 
and  directed  by  a  large  number  of  American  teachers  who 
went  to  the  Philippines  after  the  United  States  came  into 
possession,  has  given  the  young  Filipinos  an  opportunity  to 
prepare  themselves  for  leadership,  and  they  have  been  quick 
to  show  their  natural  enterprise  and  intellectual  capacity.^ 
"^^^  The  District  of  Columbia,  containing  the  city  of  Washing- 

Districtof  ,  .  r  1        TT    •       1    o  • 

Columbia  ton,  the  Seat  of  government  for  the  United  States,  is  a  tract 
of  seventy  square  miles.  It  is  entirely  under  the  control  of 
Congress.  That  body  has  provided  for  the  government  of 
Washington  City  by  a  Commission  of  three  members,  and 
the  city  affords  a  good  illustration  or  model  of  Commission 
government  for  cities,  except  that  Washington  is  not  at  all 
self -governed. 

'  In  addition  to  the  possessions  that  have  been  named,  the  United 
States  owns  Guam  in  the  far  Pacific,  obtained  from  Spain  in  1898, 
which  is  governed  as  a  naval  station  by  a  naval  officer;  and  the  Canal 
Zone,  a  strip  in  Panama  ten  miles  wide,  controlled  by  a  Governor 
appointed  by  the  President.  The  three  Danish  Islands  in  the  West  Indies 
were  acquired  by  purchase  ($25,000,000)  in  19 17. 


CHAPTER  VIII 
FORMS  AND   FUNCTIONS   OF   GOVERNMENT 


"For  forms  of  government  let  fools  contest; 
Whatever  is  best  administered  is  best."  — 


Pope. 


Forms  of  government  are  not  of  first  importance.  They 
are  but  the  means  to  the  end.  It  is  the  governing  men  and 
women  that  count.     Men  believe  in  a  democratic  form  of    Fo^isof 

.  Government 

government  because  they  beheve  it  to  be  the  best  form  or  are  but  a 
means  to  attain  the  end  in  view,  —  a  just  government.  They  Means  to  the 
may  beUeve  that  such  a  form  of  government  will  secure 
the  greatest  good  to  the  greatest  number;  not  because 
they  believe  that  democracy  will  always  result  in  the  most 
efficient  or  most  orderly  government  but  because  they  believe 
that  men  should  learn  to  govern  themselves  and  that  in  the 
long  run  self-government  will  result  in  the  better  civic  develop- 
ment of  all  men. 

But  it  is  obvious  that  in  some  countries,  under  certain 
conditions,  a  democratic  form  of  government  might  not  be 
workable  or  desirable.  It  all  depends  on  the  habits,  condi- 
tions, and  capacity  of  the  people  to  be  governed.  So  the  science 
of  government  has  been  well  called  the  "science  of  circum- 
stances." Forms,  methods,  institutions,  constitutions,  all 
these  are  formal  not  vital  things  in  government.  They  have 
come  and  gone  according  to  men's  circumstances  and  experience 
in  history.  Experience  is  the  great  teacher,  and  government 
is  an  experimental  science.  Experiment  has  been  the  means 
of  learning  whether  this  form  or  that,  one  institution  or  another,  ^'^'^  Society 
is  the  best  adapted  to  obtain  good  government  or  whether  it 
is  best  calculated  to  promote  the  education  of  men  for  self- 
government. 

173 


Self- 
government  Is 
the  Goal  in 


174  THE  CITIZEN   AND  THE   REPUBLIC 

We  have  always  heard  that  "knowledge  is  power."     Knowl- 
edge is  the  basis  of  all  progress  in  science  and  life,  not  only 
Knowledge  and    jj^  ^j^g  physical  sciences  but  in  the  social  sciences  also,  among 

Progress*    The 

Natural  and        which   is   the   science   of   government.     Physics,   astronomy, 
the  Social  botany,    agriculture,    are   some    of    the    natural   or   physical 

sciences.  In  these  men  learn  by  practice  or  by  experiments 
in  the  laboratory.  History,  political  economy,  political 
science,  sociology,  — i.e.  the  study  of  society,  —  are  some  of  the 
social  sciences.  In  these  fields,  also,  experience  brings  knowl- 
edge and  knowledge  brings  progress.  We  ought,  therefore, 
to  try  to  know  the  business  of  government  and  how  this 
business  is  conducted,  to  learn  the  failures  that  have  occurred, 
the  successes  achieved,  the  best  means  that  can  be  employed, 
and  the  reforms  that  are  needed  to  enable  the  people  to  obtain 
better  government. 

Functions  of  Government 
Scope  and  'pj^g  scope  of  government  has  become  more  extensive  in 

Government  rcccut  years,  as  the  study  of  this  subject  will  show.  There  are 
those  who  think  that  government  should  still  further  enlarge 
its  functions,  while  others  feel  that  it  should  more  strictly 
confine  itself  to  the  old  functions  of  merely  preventing  crime 
and  protecting  life  and  property.  All  recognize  that  govern- 
ment should  do  certain  essential  things: 

(i)  It  should  maintain  order  and  protect  the  life,  Uberty, 
and  property  of  the  people. 

(2)  To  this  end  it  should  prevent  crime  by  restraining  and 
punishing  criminals. 

(3)  It  should  erect  courts  to  administer  justice  between 
man  and  man.  If  men  will  not  keep  their  contracts  or  pay 
their  debts  or  taxes  voluntarily  it  may  be  necessary  for  gov- 
ernment to  use  coercion  and  restraint. 

(4)  Many  domestic  relations  are  subject  to  governmental 
control,  as  the  relation  between  husband  and  wife,  parents 
and  child,  guardian  and  ward,  employer  and  workman. 


FORMS  AND   FUNCTIONS  OF   GOVERNMENT        175 

(5)  Government  determines  the  political  rights  and  duties 
of  men  and  women  by  regulating  such  matters  as  suffrage, 
elections,  and  eligibiUty  to  office,  and  the  duties  of  officers. 

(6)  The  control  of  a  nation's  foreign  relations  in  matters 
relating  to  treaties,  peace  and  war,  and  defense  against  attack. 

(7)  The  provision  of  the  necessary  agencies  of  commercial 
intercourse,  by  coining  money  and  providing  a  legal  tender  for 
the  payment  of  debts;  by  determining  upon  reUable  weights 
and  measures;  by  keeping  open  highways  for  travel  and 
transportation;  by  providing  postal  faciUties  and  means  of 
communication. 

All  these  essential  functions  of  government  will  suggest 
other  activities  which  government  may  choose  to  undertake 
if  its  controlling  powers  desire,  such  as  the  regulation  of 
trade  and  industry;  the  fostering  of  public  improvements, 
roads,  bridges,  canals,  harbors;  promoting  education  in  ele- 
mentary and  secondary  schools  and  in  colleges  and  universities; 
safeguarding  the  public  health  by  maintaining  sewer  systems 
and  water  systems  and  systems  of  inspection  for  buildings  and 
mines  and  factories.  All  these  things  are  done,  some  more 
and  some  less,  some  better  and  some  worse,  under  all  forms  of 
government. 

We  ought,  also,  to  know  the  forms,  processes,  and  insti- 
tutions by  which  men  have  sought  to  govern  themselves  and    Government 
others.     Certain    forms    of    government    are    so    frequently 
referred  to  that  it  becomes  necessary  to  have  them  defined. 

Forms  of  Government 

There  are  three  familiar  forms  of  government:  i.  Monarchy. 
2.   Aristocracy.     3.  Democracy.^ 

A  monarchy  is  a  government  by  a  single  person.  If  the 
monarch's  power  is  limited  by  law  or  by  a  constitution,  it  is 
called  a  limited,  or  constitutional,  monarchy,  like  that  of  Great    Monarchy 

^  This  classification  goes  back  to  Aristotle.     Politics,  Book  III. 


Definition  of 
Terms  in 


176 


THE   CITIZEN   AND  THE   REPUBLIC 


Aristocracy 


Democracy 


Britain;  if  it  is  not  so  limited,  it  is  called  an  unlimited,  or 
absolute,  monarchy.  This  is  a  despotism  such  as  Russia  had. 
There  may  he  such  a  thing  as  a  "benevolent  despotism"  — 
the  wise,  good  rule  of  an  absolute  monarch.  But  if  such  a 
monarch  recognizes  no  law  or  constitution  in  restraint  of  his 
power,  he  is  a  despot.  If  he  governs  wickedly  and  oppressively 
he  is  a  tyrant;  if  he  governs  wisely  and  well,  he  is  a  "benevo- 
lent despot,"  but  a  despot  just  the  same.  The  word  despot 
generally  has  a  bad  significance,  because,  as  a  rule,  an  unre- 
strained despot  governs  badly. 

Aristocracy  is  a  government  by  the  few;  literally  speaking, 
by  the  superior  or  best  citizens  of  the  state.  ^  If  we  were  to 
look  only  to  the  quality  of  the  government  and  not  to  the  char- 
acter and  development  of  the  people  to  be  governed,  and  if  we 
could  make  sure  of  finding  some  fair,  safe  way  of  choosing 
the  most  competent  persons  to  govern;  and  if  we  were  certain 
that  they  would  govern  in  the  interest  of  all  and  not  chiefly 
in  the  interest  of  a  class,  there  would  not  be  much  objection 
to  an  aristocracy.  It  should  be  borne  in  mind  that  the  motive 
of  those  who  govern  is  an  important  factor  in  any  government. 
If  the  motive  or  desire  of  those  in  power  is  to  promote  the 
welfare  of  the  people  and  not  merely  to  look  out  for  their  own 
interests,  good  government  is  more  likely  to  follow.  In 
America  we  are  inclined  to  think  government  by  all  the  people 
and  not  by  any  class  will  be  more  likely  to  bring  "the  greatest 
good  to  the  greatest  number." 

A  democracy  is  the  form  of  government  by  which  the  power 
of  the  State  is  exercised  by  the  majority  of  the  people,  or  by 
the  masses. 

"Since  the  development  of  modern  democracy  the  form 
of  government  is  often  radically  different  from  its  spirit. 
Great  Britain  by  theory  is  an  absolute  monarchy  but  is  in  fact 
a  representative  democracy,  and  Mexico,  which  is  by  theory 
a  democracy,  is  in  fact  a  close  aristocracy.  This  divergence 
^  Arisloi  is  the  Greek  word  for  the  best. 


FORMS  AND  FUNCTIONS  OF  GOVERNMENT       177 


between   theory   and   fact  .  . 
a  satisfactory  classification."  ^ 


makes  it  difficult  to  devise 


Kinds  of  Democracy 


Degrees  of 
Democracy 


A  pure  or  absolute  democracy  is  a  government  by  the  direct 
action  of  the  people,  i.e.,  one  in  which  the  people  meet  together 
to  make  laws  and  appoint  agents  to  enforce  them.  A  pure 
Democracy  is  not  possible  except  over  a  very  small  area,  or 
in  small  city-states,  like  those  of  ancient  Greece,  where  all 
the  freemen,  or  citizens,  met  together  to  make  the  laws  or  to 
determine  on  war  and  peace  and  public  policies. 

About  nine  tenths  of  the  people  in  these  Greek  cities  were 
slaves,  who  did  not  have  the  privilege  of  taking  any  part  in 
affairs  of  government.  So  these  city-states  were  not  very 
democratic  in  our  modern  sense.  Aristotle  thought  of  the 
rule  of  the  people  as  mobocracy,  i.e.,  the  rule  of  the  mob. 
He  supposed  the  masses  who  were  ignorant  and  depraved  in 
his  day  could  only  produce  government  of  the  lawless  mob, 
moved  by  passion,  excitement,  and  violence.  He  wished  a 
government  by  established  law  in  the  interest  of  the  com- 
mon good.  He  used  the  term  polity  for  our  idea  of  orderly 
democracy. 

Direct  legislation  by  the  people,  or  the  enactment  of  laws 
by  the  initiative  and  referendum,  is  an  approach  toward  pure 
democracy,  since  it  reduces  the  power  and  importance  of  the 
representatives  of  the  people  and  gives  more  power  to  the 
people  themselves.     (See  p.  36.) 

A  representative  democracy  or  a  republic  is  the  form  of  The  Republic 
government  under  which  the  people  rule  through  their  repre- 
sentatives. A  republic  may  be  more  or  less  democratic. 
Some  so-called  republics  of  the  past  have  been  aristocratic 
republics,  like  those  of  ancient  Greece,  where  an  educated 
leisure  class  exercised  power.  Some  have  been  military 
republics,  where  the  power  of  the  State  was  organized  on  a 
'   Dealey,  The  Development  of  the  State,  p.  120. 


178  THE   CITIZEN   AND  THE   REPUBLIC 

military  plan  for  quick  united  action  for  conquest  or  defense. 
Some  have  been  oligarchic  republics,  like  Venice,  where  a  hand- 
ful of  nobles  exercised  power. 

The  Oligarchy  An  oligarchy  is  a  government  by  the  few.  It  may  be  by  a 
military  class,  or  by  a  landed,  hereditary  aristocracy,  or  by 
a  plutocracy,  which  is  a  government  by  the  rich.  A  plutocracy 
is  a  vicious  and  corrupting  kind  of  government.  It  is  likely 
to  exist  under  some  other  name,  but  under  it  a  few  men  of 
wealth  corrupt  the  voters,  buy  the  laws,  control  the  adminis- 
trators and  judges,  and  force  the  people  into  subjection. 

MUitarism  Militarism  is  a  system  under  which  government  is  controlled 

by  a  military  class.  Prominence  is  given  to  military  training 
and  military  distinctions,  and  the  military  classes  arrogate  to 
themselves  the  powers,  honors,  and  rewards  of  the  State. 
Militarism  cultivates  pride  of  rank  and  leads  the  military 
to  stand  by  the  interest  of  their  class  at  the  expense  of  common 
justice  and  the  public  welfare.  It  leads  to  the  assertion  of 
arbitrary  and  domineering  power  over  the  masses,  and  entirely 
subordinates  the  civil  interests  of  man  to  the  mihtary  interest. 
MiUtarism  involves  large  standing  armies,  heavy  mihtary 
expenses,  and  burdensome  taxes  upon  the  people.  It  exalts 
authority  and  disregards  liberty.  The  soldier  despises  the 
citizen,  and  the  rulers  in  a  military  State  generally  demand 
of  their  subjects  flattering  obeisance,  subserviency,  and 
servility. 

The  military  state  may  be  good  for  preserving  order,  for 
training  men  for  obedience  and  united  action,  and  for  pro- 
viding efficient  and  orderly  administration.  But  to  a  demo- 
cratic people  militarism  is  especially  distasteful.  It  is  absolute, 
arbitrary,  and  autocratic.  It  violates  all  equality  of  rights, 
since  a  great  social  gulf  is  fixed  between  the  private  soldier, 
or  citizen,  and  the  army  officer.  All  honors  go  to  the  mihtary, 
—  uniforms  and  shoulder  straps,  swords  and  sabers,  being 
their  trappings  and  symbols.  In  times  of  war  and  great  public 
danger  a  free  people  may  have  to  submit  to  the  suppression 


FORMS  AND   FUNCTIONS  OF  GOVERNMENT       179 


of  civil  law  and  civil  liberty  by  the  military  arm  for  the  sake 
of  the  piibHc  defense,  according  to  the  maxim,  "The  safety  of 
the  public  is  the  highest  law;"  but  they  do  this  only  from 
dire  necessity.  Military  rule  over  a  free  people  in  time  of 
peace  is  always  objectionable. 

A  nation  may  be  well  prepared  for  defense  by  having  good 
soldiers  without  being  governed  by  a  military  spirit  or  a  mili- 
tary class.  Switzerland  is  a  good  example  of  a  democratic 
country  where  all  the  young  men  receive  military  training, 
and,  in  consequence,  the  army  of  Switzerland  is  very  effective 
for  so  small  a  country.  It  is  a  democratic  army  in  which 
every  officer  has  first  served  as  a  private.  All  have  been  with- 
drawn from  their  usual  occupations  for  a  series  of  years  and 
drilled  in  camp  and  march  and  trenches  and  other  military 
practices.  In  a  democracy  every  able-bodied  citizen  should 
be  ready  to  be  a  soldier.  The  young  men  might  be  trained 
for  social  service  as  well  as  for  military  service,  like  the 
Boy  Scouts.  A  good  system  of  training  for  a  citizen  soldiery 
need  do  nothing  to  promote  the  miUtary  class  or  to  decrease 
our  loyalty  to  democratic  government.  Such  training  might 
rest  on  a  sense  of  universal  service  to  the  country. 

Modern  governments  do  not  now,  as  a  rule,  raise  armies  for 
war  by  a  system  of  volunteering  but  by  a  system  of  selec- 
tion. All  able-bodied  citizens,  in  time  of  war,  are  liable 
to  be  "called  to  the  colors"  for  the  defense  of  their  country. 
Exemptions  are  allowed  for  good  reasons,  some  being  left 
in  the  factories  and  on  the  farms  while  others  are  called  to 
bear  arms.  When  the  nation  is  organized  for  war,  all  pa- 
triotic citizens  are  ready  to  serve  where  their  country  needs 
them. 

The  essential  element  in  a  modern  republic  is  that  its  powers 
should  be  derived,  either  directly  or  indirectly,  from  the  great 
body  of  the  people,  and  not  from  a  small  proportion  or  favored 
class  of  people.  It  is  not  essential  to  a  republic  that  all  its 
officers  should  be  elective  or  hold  office  for  short  terms.     Their 


Military 
Training  in 
a  Democracy 


Essential 
Features  of 
a  Republic 


i8o 


THE  CITIZEN  AND  THE   REPUBLIC 


A  Centralized 
vs.  a 

Decentralized 
Republic: 
France  and  the 
United  States 


terms  may  be  for  a  limited  period  or  during  good  behavior, 
as  the  law  may  determine.  The  republican  form  of  govern- 
ment, where  it  exists,  is  generally  guaranteed  by  a  constitu- 
tion as  in  the  United  States,  though  it  may  really  exist 
under  monarchical  forms,  as  in  England.  In  the  latter  case 
the  government  is  essentially  republican,  though  nominally 
monarchical. 

A  republic  may  be  centralized,  or  consolidaled,  or  it  may  be 
decentralized,  or  federal. 

A  centralized  or  consolidated  republic  is  a  single  nation, 
republican  in  form.  It  may  be  made  up  of  smaller  com- 
munities but  these  are  mere  subdivisions  of  the  nation.  In 
the  centralized  republic,  like  France,  all  the  people  are  con- 
sidered in  one  mass  to  be  governed  in  all  their  concerns  from 
a  common  center.  In  France  there  are  eighty-six  departments 
for  local  government.  The  head,  or  Prefect,  of  each  depart- 
ment is  appointed  and  removed  by  the  President  of  the 
republic,  or  the  Minister  of  the  Interior.  Thus,  the  Prefect 
is  the  agent  of  the  general  government,  and  he  directs  the 
administration  of  local  affairs.  He  appoints  subordinate 
officers,  supervises  the  enforcement  of  the  law,  maintains  con- 
trol over  all  administrative  officials.  Each  department  has 
a  council,  but  the  council  has  little  power  except  to  see  to 
highways,  canals,  schools,  etc.  The  council  cannot  control 
the  Prefect,  but  that  officer  may  at  times  annul  the  acts  of  the 
council;  and  the  President  of  France  may  dissolve  the  council 
or  veto  its  acts.  Thus,  we  see,  the  departments  have  no  in- 
dependent governmental  powers.  They  are  quite  unlike  our 
States  in  this  respect. 

Thus,  as  we  see  in  France,  when  the  local  divisions  and  the 
powers  which  they  exercise  are  subject  to  change  at  any  time 
by  the  central  government,  and  when  all  real  power  is  vested 
in  the  central  government  to  be  used  or  delegated  as  it  will, 
then  we  have  a  centralized  government. 

The  American  republic,  as  it  was  originally  made  and  as 


FORMS  AND   FUNCTIONS  OF   GOVERNMENT       l8l 

it  has  for  the  most  part  remained,  is  not  centrahzed  or  con- 
solidated in  this  way;  but  it  was  made  up  of  political  communi- 
ties, called  States,  which  were  republics,  each  within  itself, 
and  which  had  complete  working  governments  before  the 
United  States  came  into  existence.     The  Union  did  not  make   The  Federal 

Union 

the  States  for  its  convenience,  but  the  States  made  the  Union 
for  their  benefit  and  common  defense.  They  did  this  hy  feder- 
ating and  we  shall  now  turn  to  the  study  of  the  American 
Union  or  Federal  Republic  formed  by  this  uniting  of  the  States. 

TOPICS  AND    QUERIES 

1.  What  are  the  weaknesses  in  a  democracy?     Why  is  a  monarchy, 

or  a  military  government,  more  efficient  in  administration? 

2.  Why  is  a  local  government   whose   officers   are   elective   more  lax 

and  neglectful  in  law  enforcement  than  the  national  government 
whose  judges  and  prosecuting  attorneys  are  appointive?  How 
can  this  be  remedied? 

3.  What  are  the  advantages  and  disadvantages  of  centralized  govern- 

ment over  local  decentralized  government?  How  did  the  United 
States  come  to  have  the  latter  kind? 

Read    Bryce,    American    Commonwealth,    Vol.    II,    Chapter   on 
"Merits  of  the  Federal  System,"  pp.  350-358. 

4.  Make  a  list  of  the  advantages  of  military  training  and  the  evils  of 

military  control.  Explain  the  historic  opposition  in  America  to 
large  standing  armies. 

REFERENCES 

Burgess,  J.  W.    Political  Science  and  Comparative  Constitutional   Law, 

Vol.  II,  pp.  1-16  (?). 
Dealey,  James  Q.    The  Development  of  the  State,  pp.  1 19-12  7. 
Hindsdale,  B.  A.    The   American  Government,   pp.    14-18. 
Holt,  Lucius  H.    An  Introduction  to  the  Study  of  Government,  pp.  3-10. 

Purposes  of  government  and  classification  of  forms. 
Kaye,  P.  L.    Readings  in  Civil  Government. 
Leacock,  Stephen.  Elements  of  Political  Science. 
Stickney,  Albert.    A   True  Republic,  Chap.  II,  pp.  16-25. 
Stickney,  Albert.    Democratic  Government,   pp.    11-21. 
Willoughby,    W.    W.     Rights    and    Duties    of    American     Citizenship, 

Chap.  VI,  pp.  67-88. 
Woodburn,  James  A.    The    American    Republic    and    its    Government, 

Chap.  II,  pp.  47-60. 


The 

Constitution  of 
a  Country  is 
Written  or 
Unwritten 


CHAPTER  IX 
THE   CONSTITUTION:   WRITTEN  AND   UNWRITTEN 

The  constitution  of  a  state  or  nation  is  its  fundamental 
organic  law  which  determines  its  form  of  government  and  the 
underlying  rules  and  principles  according  to  which  its  govern- 
ment shall  be  conducted.  An  organic  law  is  one  which  lays 
down  the  organs  of  government  and  sets  forth  their  functions. 
It  may  be  written  or  unwritten.  If  the  principles,  rules,  and 
laws  determining  the  organic  form  of  the  state  are  embodied 
in  a  single  written  document,  the  government  is  one  of  a 
written  constitution.  But  if  the  rules  and  principles  for  the 
guidance  of  a  government  are  made  up  of  statutes,  decisions, 
and  precedents  that  have  been  passed  and  rendered  from  time 
to  time,  and  if  the  fundamental  law  for  the  guidance  of  the 
state  is  found  in  the  usages  and  customs  based  on  these 
precedents,  practices,  and  laws  of  the  past,  the  nation  is  then 
said  to  have  an  unwritten  constitution. 

Differences  between  Written  and  Unwritten 

Constitutions 

The  United  States  has  a  written  Constitution,  —  a  document 
of  definite  length,  which,  if  printed  in  a  pamphlet,  may  be 
read  through  in  twenty  minutes.  The  Declaration  of  Inde- 
pendence is  not  a  part  of  the  United  States  Constitution, 
though  it  contains  principles  which  may  influence  or  control 
the  people  in  the  conduct  of  their  government.  Great  Britain 
has  an  unwritten  constitution,  —  a  set  of  customs,  usages, 
understandings,  proceedings  and  long-standing  laws  that  it 
has  been  customary  to  go  by.     An  important  distinction  is 

182 


THE  CONSTITUTION:    WRITTEN  AND   UNWRITTEN     183 


that  in  a  country  with  an  unwritten  constitution,  the  con- 
stitution can  be  changed  by  the  ordinary  legislature,  while 
in  a  country  with  a  written  constitution  the  constitution  is 
placed  above  and  out  of  the  reach  of  the  legislature,  being 
subject  to  change  only  by  the  authority  (higher  than  the  legis- 
lature) which  created  the  constitution.  This  higher  power  is 
generally  the  people  acting  through  a  convention  and  by  a 
popular  vote. 

An  unwritten  constitution  is  cdWed  flexible,  —  it  may  be  bent, 
turned,  expanded,  or  changed  more  easily,  at  the  will  of  the 
supreme  legislature. 

A  written  constitution  is  called  inflexible,  or  rigid.  It  cannot 
be  so  easily  turned  or  changed.  It  resists  bending  at  the  efforts 
of  a  temporary  majority  in  the  legislature,  and  its  provisions 
cannot  be  overridden  or  disregarded.  Its  terms  are  fixed 
and  it  can  be  changed  only  by  the  same  slow  and  difficult 
process  by  which  the  constitution  was  made  or  according  to 
its  own  provision  for  amendments. 

It  should  be  understood  that  a  nation  with  an  unwritten 
constitution  is  just  as  much  under  constitutional  government 
as  one  with  a  written  constitution;  nor  is  it  to  be  thought 
that  such  a  government  is  changing  at  every  whip-stitch  or 
at  every  popular  caprice.  England  has  been  the  home  and 
source  of  constitutional  government  for  centuries  and  has 
given  free  representative  government  to  many  parts  of  the 
world,  and  her  government  has  been  essentially  the  same  in 
all  these  years.  It  has  changed  from  age  to  age,  just  as  any 
government  must  do.  It  has  become  more  democratic  in 
modern  times,  just  as  our  government  has.  But  England  has 
constantly  struggled  for  and  preserved  the  essential  features 
of  constitutional  government,  constitutional  liberty,  and 
constitutional  law.  An  unwritten  constitution  is  easy  to 
change  only  in  the  sense  that  a  nation's  habits  are  easy  to 
change.  That  is  sometimes  very  hard.  While  growing 
more  republican  in  spirit  and  substance,  England  has  held 


An   Unwritten 
Constitution 
maybe 
Conservative 


1 84  THE  CITIZEN   AND  THE   REPUBLIC 

with  habitual  tenacity  to  kingship  and  lordships  for  more  than 
a  thousand  years.  Indeed  a  country  under  an  unwritten 
constitution  may  be  more  conservative  than  one  under  a 
written  constitution.  It  is  true  that  in  a  government  under 
an  unwritten  constitution  the  legislature  is  absolute;  it  may 
do  what  it  will,  even  to  changing  the  constitution  itself. 
But  it  feels  bound  to  legislate  and  conduct  the  government  on 
principles  that  are  well  known  and  of  record,  according  to 
laws  that  are  written  and  old,  and  according  to  habits  that 
are  deep-rooted  and  revered.  These  are  sound  safeguards 
against  usurpation,  despotism,  and  tyranny,  and  the  vio- 
lation of  the  rights  of  person  and  of  property;  and  therefore, 
the  government  of  such  a  legislature,  while  absolute  in  law,  is 
constitutional  in  practice. 

We  ought  not  to  think  that  our  rights  and  liberties  are 
determined  for  us,  or  secured  to  us,  by  words  in  a  parchment. 
The  rights  of  the  people  are  guaranteed  not  by  the  words  of 
a  written  constitution  but  rather  by  what  has  been  called  the 
Our  Rights  are    ^piyH  qJ  ij,c  constitution  and  its  unwritten  law.     These  include 
"Parchment       the  principles  and  forces  by  which  the  people  are  moved  and 
Rights "  controlled,  by  which  the  life  of  the  State  is  governed,  —  custom, 

th^nZir"'^'  usage,  precedent,  our  political  habits,  public  expectation,  the 
Constitutions  spirit  and  love  of  American  liberty,  on  which  the  nation  was 
founded,  and  by  which  it  is  guided.  All  these  are  the  forces 
to  be  relied  upon  to  restrain  the  power  of  legislatures  in  State 
or  nation.  The  rights  of  the  people  to  peace  and  order,  to 
life,  liberty,  property,  and  the  pursuit  of  happiness,  existed 
many  years  before  the  Constitution  was  created.  These 
rights  were  guaranteed  by  forces  older  and  above  the  Constitu- 
tion. The  Constitution  is  not  the  fountain  from  which  they 
flow.  That  document  is  the  consequence,  not  the  cause,  of 
these  rights.  It  grants  no  rights  to  the  people,  but  it  is  merely 
the  creature  of  their  power,  the  instrument  to  secure  and 
defend  these  rights.  Our  written  constitutions  in  America 
have  a  noble  purpose  in  view,  but  the  sacred  thing  about  them 


THE   CONSTITUTION:    WRITTEN   AND   UNWRITTEN     185 

is  the  principles  and  purposes  for  which  they  are  ordained 
and  estabUshed.  It  is  these  that  deserve  our  loyalty  and 
reverence,  — •  namely,  justice,  peace,  equity,  the  public  welfare, 
the  blessings  of  liberty,  and  equal  rights  under  the  law.  If 
any  constitution  prevents  or  hinders  these  things  or  unduly 
delays  them,  it  is  the  right  and  duty  of  the  people  to  change 
it  or  to  overthrow  it  entirely.  Therefore  every  written  con- 
stitution must  provide  for  its  own  amendment,  and  must  be 
subject  to  a  Hberal  interpretation  that  will  enable  it  to  grow 
and  expand. 

Any  constitution  that  will  not  bend  must  break.  It  must 
change  and  expand  with  the  expansion  and  growth  of  the 
country  for  which  it  was  made.  It  must  accommodate  itself 
to  changed  conditions  or  it  will  be  laid  aside.     If  a  constitution    ^he  Unwritten 

°  _  _  Constitution 

is  too  rigid,  its  provisions  will  be  violated  or  it  will  be  treated  in  America 
with  such  loose  construction  as  to  be  equivalent  to  evasion. 
This  is  not  a  law-abiding  way  to  act  and  is  likely  to  beget  a 
disregard  for  constitutions  and  laws  among  the  people.  But 
a  constitution  should  contain  not  statutory  matter  with  a 
whole  lot  of  specific  prohibitions  which  time  may  prove  to  be 
unwise,  but  broad  fundamental  principles  of  government, 
stated  in  general  terms.  It  could,  therefore,  find  room  to 
expand,  to  adapt  itself  to  social  changes  for  the  sake  of  social 
justice,  not  only  by  the  written  process  of  amendment  but  by 
interpretation  and  usage  (see  p.  191).  Our  Constitution  has 
expanded  in  exactly  this  way  and  presents  certain  unwritten 
features  fixed  by  usage  and  not  by  written  law.  The  student 
should  note  these  as  he  studies  the  American  Government  and 
the  party  forces  which  operate  it. 

We  summarize  here  a  few  of  these  aspects  of  the  unwritten 
constitution  in  America,  most  of  which  are  indicated  or  dis- 
cussed in  their  proper  connection  in  other  parts  of  the  book. 

(i)  A  Presidential  Elector  must  vote  for  the  candidates 
of  his  party. 

(2)  A  President  may  not  be  elected  for  three  terms. 


l86  THE   CITIZEN   AND  THE   REPUBLIC 

(3)  A  Congressman  must  reside  in  the  district  from  which 
he  is  chosen. 

(4)  The  President's  cabinet  appointments  are  confirmed  by 
the  senate  without  question. 

(5)  A  President  may  remove  his  appointees  without  the 
consent  of  the  senate. 

The  committee  system  of  conducting  business  in  Congress 
and  the  whole  party  system  with  its  rules  and  committees 
and  conventions  for  the  control  and  conduct  of  parties  are  the 
outgrowth  of  custom  or  unwritten  law.  None  of  these  things 
are  provided  for  by  any  written  law  but  they  are  as  well  estab- 
lished as  if  they  were. 

Benefits  of  the  Written  Constitution 

To  safeguard  certain  rights  and  interests  and  to  prevent 
temporary  passing  legislatures  from  interfering  with  them 
under  popular  passion  and  excitement,  the  people  of  the  United 
States  have  established  their  written  constitutions.  The 
people  in  America  believe  in  these  safeguards.  They  do  not 
like  sudden  or  frequent  changes  in  government  and  law,  and 
they  have  thought  it  safer  to  put  their  fundamental  rights, 
to  obtain  which  they  struggled  for  so  many  years  against  their 
royal  governments,  beyond  the  reach  of  their  legislatures. 
They  wished  to  establish  a  sphere  of  individual  freedom  on 
which  no  governmental  authority  was  to  be  allowed  to  en- 
croach. The  people  have  therefore  recited,  or  inserted,  these 
rights  under  the  form  of  a  "Bill  of  Rights,"  in  their  consti- 
tutions. State  and  national.  These  rights  are  sacred  and  the 
people  have  thus  solemnly  agreed  and  announced  that  they 
shall  not  be  touched,  abridged,  or  denied,  not  even  by  the 
people  themselves.  This  "Bill  of  Rights"  is  old,  coming  to 
Bill  of  Rights  ^^Q  colonies  from  the  English  constitution.  In  the  early  days 
it  was  the  largest  and  most  important  part  of  the  State  con- 
stitutions and  it  was  put  into  these  constitutions  before  it 
became  a  part  of  the  United  States  Constitution. 


THE   CONSTITUTION:    WRITTEN  AND   UNWRITTEN     187 

This  "Bill  of  Rights"  provides  for  freedom  of  rehgion, 
freedom  of  assembly,  freedom  of  speech  and  of  the  press,  and 
of  petition;  for  the  right  of  trial  by  jury;  that  no  person 
shall  be  held  to  answer  for  a  capital  crime  except  by  indict-  ^'"^uuf^  °^ 
ment  of  a  grand  jury;  that  the  accused  shall  have  the  privilege  Rights 
of  the  writ  of  habeas  corpus  and  a  right  to  a  speedy  and  pubHc 
trial;  cruel  and  unusual  punishments,  general  search  warrants 
and  imprisonment  for  debt,  are  prohibited,  as  also  are  the  grant- 
ing of  titles  of  nobility,  the  passing  of  ex  post  facto  laws  and 
bills  of  attainder,  and  the  taking  of  private  property  except 
for  public  purposes  and  by  due  process  of  law.  These  "  Bills 
of  Rights"  usually  assert  the  principles  of  American  popular 
government,  —  that  all  people  should  have  equal  rights,  that 
governments  originate  with  the  people  and  all  power  is  in- 
herent in  the  people,  and  that  the  people  have  at  all  times 
the  right  to  change  or  reform  their  government  as  they  please. 

Another  way  by  which  the  Constitution  has  grown  and 
the  national  power  has  been  increased  has  been  by  implied 
powers.  In  this  again  we  see  illustrated  how  the  Constitution 
is  not  so  much  what  was  originally  written  as  it  is  a  matter 
of  usage,  decisions,  and  precedents.  Congress  may  exercise  ^p'^^^ 
only  the  powers  conferred  upon  it.  But  since  it  may  employ 
any  means  necessary  to  carry  out  these  powers,  Congress  has 
used  a  wide  discretion  and  enlarged  its  own  powers  by  the 
means  which  it  has  chosen  to  adopt  in  order  to  do  the  things 
which  the  Constitution  permits  it  to  do.  It  has  adopted  the 
doctrine  that  a  power  which  is  granted  implies  other  powers 
that  may  be  "necessary  and  proper"  for  carrying  out  a  power 
that  is  granted;  that  a  new  power  not  mentioned  in  the  Con- 
stitution as  belonging  to  Congress  may  be  derived  or  inferred 
(implied)  from  a  power  that  is  named.  This  is  clear  in  some 
cases  but  not  so  clear  in  others. 

Congress  has  power  to  "coin  money."  This  is  expressed 
in  the  Constitution  and  is,  therefore,  called  an  "express 
power."     It  would  be  difficult,  if  not  impossible,  to  coin  money 


THE   CITIZEN   AND  THE   REPUBLIC 


niustratlons   of 

Implied 

Powers 


Hamilton  for 
Broad  Construc- 
tion 


Jefferson  on 
Implied  Powers 
and  Broad 
Construction 


without  establishing  a  mint.  It  is  therefore  asserted  that  the 
power  "to  coin  money"  impHes  or  intends  to  confer  on  Con- 
gress the  power  to  establish  a  mint.  This  power  to  establish 
a  mint  is  clearly  implied.  No  one  has  ever  been  so  strict 
in  construing  the  Constitution  as  to  deny  that,  for  how  could 
a  government  coin  money  without  having  a  mint?  That  was 
clearly  necessary.  Congress  is  also  given  (expressly)  the 
power  to  "borrow  money."  Does  this  imply  the  power  to 
establish  a  bank?  It  is  not  so  clear.  Money  may  be  borrowed 
without  a  bank,  but  a  bank  is  a  very  "proper"  if  not  "neces- 
sary" means  of  borrowing  money,  especially  to  governments. 
Congress  held  the  power  was  implied  and  established  the 
First  United  States  Bank,  thus  adopting  Hamilton's  principle 
of  broad  construction  and  implied  powers.  Jefferson  held 
that  a  power,  before  it  could  be  held  to  be  implied,  must  be 
shown  to  be  "necessary,"  without  which  the  express  power 
would  be  nugatory.  The  Constitution  gives  to  Congress  the 
power  "to  make  all  laws  which  shall  be  necessary  and  proper" 
for  carrying  into  execution  the  powers  granted. 

Jefferson  contended  that  the  necessity  ought  to  be  proved. 
"To  take  a  single  step,"  said  he,  "beyond  the  boundaries 
specifically  drawn  around  the  powers  of  Congress  is  to  take 
possession  of  a  boundless  field  of  power,"  and  Jefferson  held 
that  these  words,  " necessary  and  proper,"  placed  at  the  end 
of  a  list  of  limited  powers,  ought  not  to  be  so  construed  as  to 
give  unlimited  powers. 

Our  system  of  government  during  its  history  has  held  a 
pretty  even  balance  between  the  views  of  Hamilton  and  Jeffer- 
son. The  national  Government  has  not  been  allowed  to  assume 
unlimited  powers,  but  impHed  powers  and  liberal  construction 
have  prevailed  to  give  Congress  the  powers  essential  to  meet 
emergencies  and  to  provide  for  our  national  development  and 
preservation.  The  people  have  virtually  accepted  Chief 
Justice  Marshall's  construction  of  the  Constitution,  who 
recognized  both  limited  powers  and  broad  construction. 


THE   CONSTITUTION:    WRITTEN   AND   UNWRITTEN     189 

"This  government  is  acknowledged  by  all  to  be  one  of  enumerated 
powers.  The  principle  that  it  can  exercise  only  the  powers  granted 
to  it  is  now  universally  admitted.  But  the  question  respecting 
the  extent  of  the  powers  actually  granted  is  perpetually  arising  and 
will  probably  continue  to  arise  as  long  as  our  system  shall  exist.  .  .  . 
The  powers  of  the  Government  are  limited  and  its  powers  are  not  to 
be  transcended.  But  the  sound  construction  of  the  Constitution 
must  allow  to  the  national  legislature  that  discretion  with  respect 
to  the  means  by  which  the  powers  it  confers  are  to  be  carried  into 
execution,  which  will  enable  that  body  to  perform  the  high  duties 
assigned  to  it  in  a  manner  most  beneficial  to  the  people.  Let  the  end 
be  legitimate,  let  it  be  within  the  scope  of  the  Constitution,  and 
all  means  which  are  appropriate,  which  are  plainly  adapted  to  that 
end,  and  which  are  not  prohibited  but  are  consistent  with  the  letter 
and  spirit  of  the  Constitution,  are  constitutional."  ^ 

Distribution  of  Powers  to  State  and  Nation 
It  should  be  remembered  that  the  general  restrictions  im-    ^®°®^^, 

_         _  .      .  Restrictions    of 

posed  upon  government  by  the  Constitution  are  restrictions    theConsti- 
upon  the  government  of  the  United  States,  not  restrictions    *""*"*.  ^^ 

^  °  .  .  restrain  the 

upon  the  States,  unless  the  States  are  especially  mentioned,    umted  states, 

For  example,  "No  bill  of  attainder  or  ex  post  facto  law  shall   not  the  states 

be  passed."  ''     This  prohibits  the  United  States  but  not  any 

State  from  passing  such  laws.     To  prohibit  the  States  from 

passing  such  measures  it  was  necessary  that  the  Constitution 

should  say  in  addition,  as  was  done  in  the  next  section,  "No 

State  shall  pass  a  bill  of  attainder  or  ex  post  facto  law."     Unless 

the  States  are  specifically  mentioned,  the  limitations  imposed 

by  the  United  States  Constitution  are  imposed  on  the  national 

Government  only,  not  on  the  States.     So  long  as  the  States 

do  not  infringe  upon  expressed  provisions  of  the  Constitution 

especially  addressed  to  them,  or  upon  those  implied  in  the 

whole  scope  of  that  instrument  and  in  the  grants  of  power  to 

^  Marshall  in  the  case  of  McCulloch  vs.  Maryland,  1819. 
^  Constitution,  Art.  I,  Sec.  9. 


1 90 


THE   CITIZEN   AND  THE    REPUBLIC 


Classification 
of  Powers 


The  Nation  has 
Inherent 
Powers,  those 
essential  to 
National  Life 


the  General  Government,  they  may  regulate  their  own  domestic 
affairs  in  their  own  way.  ^ 

Thus  we  find  the  Constitution  distributing  the  powers  of 
government  between  State  and  nation.  These  powers  are 
classified  as  follows -.^ 


Powers  vested  in  the  national  Government  alone. 
Powers  vested  in  the  State  governments  alone. 
Concurrent  powers,  or  those  that  may  be  exercised  by 

either  State  or  national  Government. 
Powers  forbidden  to  the  national  Government. 
Powers  forbidden  to  the  States. 
Powers  forbidden  to  both  governments. 


While  the  theory  of  our  Constitution  is  that  all  unrecited 
governmental  powers  rest  where  they  rested  before  the  adoption 
of  the  Constitution,  —  that  is,  with  the  States,  —  yet  in 
practice  it  has  not  been  so.  The  theory  is  that  the  powers  of 
the  States  are  original  and  inherent,  those  of  the  national 
Government  are  delegated,  —  that  is,  the  latter  are  definite 
and  restricted,  enumerated  and  defined  by  the  Constitution, 
while  the  State  powers  are  "general  and  residuary,"  residing 
as  of  right  where  they  originally  belonged.  But  as  a  matter 
of  fact  the  national  Government  is  more  than  a  government 
of  delegated  powers.  It  has  come  to  exercise  "original"  and 
"inherent"  powers,  —  powers  that  have  come  to  it  from  the 
nature  of  government,  from  necessity  and  usage,  that  is  from 
the  law  of  the  unwritten  constitution.  They  have  been  called 
resulting  powers;  they  come  from  the  very  character  of  the 
national  Government  itself  and  from  the  functions  it  has  to 
perform,  — •  from  the  whole  scope,  nature,  and  purpose  of  the 
Constitution. 


1  Compare  this  with  the  passages  in  Chapter  VI  on  the  States  and 
their  Government,  pp.  146-150. 

^  Let  the  student  from  a  study  of  the  Constitution  name  some 
powers  belonging  to  each  class. 


THE  CONSTITUTION:    WRITTEN  AND   UNWRITTEN     1 91 

To  illustrate,  the  national  Government  is   eiven  the  power    Growth  by 

•  .        f  1  •     •       1  -1        Resulting 

to  make  treaties.  Resulting  from  this  is  the  power  to  provide  Powers 
for  the  transfer  or  purchase  of  territory.  This  is  not  implied 
in  treaty-making,  it  is  not  a  means  of  making  a  treaty;  but  it 
results  from  the  custom  and  usage  in  treaty-making.  De- 
fining boundaries  and  readjusting  territory  has  always  been  a 
subject  of  treaties,  and  all  customary  treaty-making  subjects, 
or  war-making  subjects,  or  international  subjects,  come 
within  the  scope  of  the  national  powers.  The  nation  may, 
of  course,  preserve  its  own  life  and,  as  a  result,  the  national 
Government  may  exercise  every  power  essential  to  the  life 
and  processes  of  a  nation.  It  must  be  allowed  to  perform 
every  national  governmental  function  which  any  national 
sovereign  government  can  perform,  which  is  not  denied  to  it 
by  the  Constitution.  The  use  of  these  natural  inherent  powers 
is  usually  criticized,  from  time  to  time,  as  unconstitutional, 
but  the  attempt  to  prevent  their  use  has  proved  futile.  And 
the  extent  to  which  they  have  been  used  has  so  far  substituted 
an  unwritten  for  a  written  constitution  in  America;  or  it  may 
be  said  to  have  marked  the  advance  of  our  unwritten  con- 
stitution by  interpretation  and  usage. 

Growth  of  the  Constitution 

The  Constitution  has  changed  and  grown  in  three  ways: 
I.  By  amendments.     2.  By  construction.     3.  By  usage.     The 
Constitution  provides  for  its  own  amendment  in  two  ways: 
(i)  Congress  may  by  a  two-thirds  vote  of  each  house  propose 
an  amendment.     If  this  be  ratified  by  the  legislatures   (or   Amendments 
by  conventions,   as   Congress   may  decide)   in   three  fourths    a^^the 
of  the  States  it  becomes  a  part  of  the  Constitution.     Seventeen    Process 
amendments  have  been  obtained  in  this  way.     The  first  ten, 
however,  were  submitted  at  the  very  first  session  of  Congress 
in  answer  to  the  demands  of  many  of  the  States  expressed 
upon  ratifying  the   Constitution,  and   these  may  almost  be 
said   to  be  a  part  of   the  original  instrument.     They  were 


192  THE  CITlZrZN   AND  THE   REPUBLIC 

adopted  to  safeguard  the  rights  of  the  States  and  the  liberties 
of  their  citizens  against  encroachments  or  abuses  by  the  central 
government.  The  Thirteenth,  Fourteenth,  and  Fifteenth 
Amendments  are  known  as  the  "war  amendments."  They 
were  adopted  during  civil  war  and  reconstruction,  while  the 
Southern  States  were  out  of  their  normal  relation  to  the  Union. 
The  Eleventh  and  Twelfth  Amendments  are  explained  else- 
where (see  pp.  327  and  237).  (2)  The  other  process  of  amend- 
ment provides  that  Congress  is  bound  to  call  a  convention  of 
all  the  States  "for  proposing  of  amendments"  if  two  thirds 
of  the  States  (through  legislatures  or  conventions)  request 
that  this  be  done.  Any  amendments  proposed  by  this  national 
convention  would  have  to  be  ratified  by  three  fourths  of  the 
States,  as  in  the  other  way.  No  amendments  have  ever  been 
obtained  by  this  process. 

We  have  never  had  a  second  convention  Hke  that  which 
made  the  Constitution  in  1787.  If  one  should  be  called  by 
Congress  on  the  demand  of  two  thirds  of  the  States  (Congress 
would  have  no  option  if  the  States  requested  it)  it  might 
proceed  not  merely  to  propose  amendments  but  to  make  an 
entirely  new  constitution,  —  as  the  Convention  of  1787  did, 
which  was  called  to  propose  amendments  to  the  Articles  of 
Confederation.  In  recent  years  some  of  the  more  radical 
people  who  have  been  dissatisfied  with  the  United  States 
Constitution  and  the  slow,  hard  method  of  amending  it, 
have  thought  of  working  through  the  States  for  the  calling 
of  a  national  Constitutional  Convention,  in  order  that  an 
entirely  new  and  more  democratic  constitution  maybe  obtained. 

Two  new  amendments  have  been  added  to  the  Constitution 
in  recent  years.  The  Sixteenth  Amendment  authorizes  Con- 
gress to  impose  an  income  tax  without  apportioning  it  among 
the  States  according  to  population.  ^     This  amendment  was 

1  The  income  tax  decision  of  the  Supreme  Court  in  1895  held  the 
income  tax  to  be  a  direct  tax,  and  the  Constitution  requires  that  such 
taxeS;   like   representatives,    must   be   apportioned   among   the   States 


ikig-stc0iiij  orsiigrcss  0f  i\t  Inittlj  States  of  America; 

gk-t  th'i  ^ncmxA  Session, 

Begun  OUU  lield  at  the  City  of  Washington  on  Monday,  the  fourth  day  of   December, 
one  thousand  nine  hundred  and  eleven. 


JOINT  RESOLUTION 


Proposing  an  amendment  to  the  Constitution  providing  that  Senators  shall  Iv 
elected  by  the  people  of  the  several  Slates. 


Resohed  Jnj  the  Senate  and  House  of  Representatives  of  the  United  Stntts 
}f  Avierica  in  Congi-ess  assembled  (tico-thlrds  of  each  Honse  coKviinimj 
IkereinJ,  That  in  lieu  of  the  first  paragraph  of  section  three  of  Article  I  of  the 
Constitution  of  the  United  States,  and  in  lieu  of  so  much  of  paragraph  iwo  oi 
the  same  section  as  relates  to  the  filling  of  vacancies,  the  folloAviiig  bo  ]iriipose(l 
as  an  amendment  to  the  Constitution,  which  shall  be  valid  to  all  interns  am! 
purposes  as  part  of  the  Constitution  when  ratified  l)y  the  legislatures  <it 
ihree-fourths  of  the  States : 

"  The  Senate  of  the  United  States  shall  be  composed  of  two  Senators  from 
i-ach  State,  elected  by  the  people  thereof,  for  six  years;  and  each  Senator  shall 
have  one  vote.  The  electors  in  each  State  shall  have  the  qualifications 
requisite  for  electors  of  the  most  numerous  branch  of  the  State  legislatures. 

"When  vacancies  happen  in  the  representation  of  any  State  in  the  Senate, 
the  executive  authority  of  such  State  shall  issue  WTits  of  election  to  till  such 
vacancies:  Fruvided,  That  the  legislature  of  any  State  may  craiiowcr  tho 
executive  thereof  to  make  temporary  appointments  until  the  people  till  tin' 
vacancies  by  election  as  the  legislature  may  direct. 

"This  amendment  shall  not  be  so  construed  as  to  affect  the  elcctinn  or 
term  of  auv  Senator  chosen  before  it  becomes  valid  as  part  of  the  Constitution. ' ' 


Speaker  of  the  House  of  Repn'genlair-' 

^'we  president  of  the  United  States  and 

President  ni  !'■    ."•  '. 


\ 


^_^ 


Facsimile  of  the  i  jth  Amexdm;ent  to  the  Constitution  of  the  Uniied  St.ates 


THE  CONSTITUTION:    WRITTEN  AND  UNWRITTEN     193 

submitted  to  the  States  in  1909,  but  did  not  receive  a  sufficient 
number  of  ratilications  until  19 13.  It  was  declared  a  part 
of  the  Constitution  by  Secretary  of  State  Knox,  February  25 
of  that  year.  The  Seventeenth  Amendment,  providing  for 
popular  election  of  senators,  was  submitted  by  Congress  to 
the  States  in  19 12  and  was  declared  adopted  by  Secretary 
Bryan  May  31,  1913.  Agitations  for  the  popular  election  of 
senators  had  been  kept  up  for  over  twenty  years,  and  for  the 
income  tax  amendment  ever  since  the  adverse  decision,  but 
the  friends  of  these  policies,  though  public  sentiment  was  favor- 
able, found  it  slow  and  difficult  work  to  get  the  amendments 
adopted. 

Many  people  have  felt  that  the  process  of  amendment  is  so 
slow  and  difficult  that  the  amending  process  should  be  amended. 
A  "gateway  amendment"  has  been  proposed  for  the  purpose  a  "Gateway 
of  making  all  future  amendments  easier.  The  "gateway 
amendment"  proposes  that  the  amending  process  shall  be  so 
changed  as  to  provide  that  a  mere  majority  of  Congress  may 
submit  amendments  to  the  States.  These  shall  be  voted  on 
by  the  people  of  the  States  and  if  a  majority  of  the  States  to- 
gether with  a  majority  of  those  voting  in  all  the  States  declare 
for  the  amendment,  then  it  shall  be  declared  to  be  a  part  of 
the  Constitution.  If  a  majority  of  Congress  refuses  to  take  the 
initiative  in  proposing  an  amendment,  the  favorable  action  of 
ten  States  by  their  legislatures  may  require  its  submission. 
Thus  one  house  of  Congress  could  not  block  an  amendment  and 
a  majority  of  the  States  and  people  could  more  easily  obtain 
one.  It  has  been  held  that  a  State  may  reconsider  and  recall 
its  rejection  of  an  amendment  but  it  may  not  rescind  its 
ratification  of  one.  That  is,  a  State  may  undo  unfavorable 
action  but  it  may  not  undo  favorable  action. 

according  to  population.  Constitution,  Art.  I,  Sec.  2.  The  income  tax 
of  1894  exempted  incomes  above  $4000,  and  this  required  a  proportion- 
ately larger  number  of  people  to  pay  in  States  like  New  York,  Massa- 
chusetts, and  Connecticut  than  in  Western  States  like  Iowa  or  Arkansas. 


194  THE  CITIZEN  AND  THE   REPUBLIC 

The  Constitution  has  grown  much  more  by  constructing 
and  interpretation  than  by  amendment.     In  this  is  shown  the 
great  function  and  influence  of  the  Supreme   Court  in  the 
Growth  of  the     growth  of  the  Constitution  and  the  changes  to  be  noticed  in 
by  Construction:  our  Government.     By  Hberal  or  broad  construction  the  Con- 
The  Great         stitutiou  has  been  greatly  developed  and  the  powers  of  Con- 
Supreme  Court   gress,  of  the  President,  and  of  the  central  government  have 
been  enlarged  far  beyond  the  thought  or  intention  of  the  most 
of  the  men  who  made  the  Constitution.     Since  the  Constitu- 
tion is  largely  what  the  Supreme  Court  says  it  is,  the  sayings 
and  decisions  of   that  court  are  looked  to  as  the  law  of   the 
Constitution  by  which  the  powers  of  government  are  extended 
or  limited.     For  the  most  part,  during  a  hundred  and  twenty- 
five    years    of   our   history,    the   national   powers   have  been 
extended  and  the  State  powers  limited. 

The    construction    of    the    Constitution    by    Chief    Justice 
Marshall  was  one  of  the  most  influential  agencies  in  promoting 
change  and  development  in  the  Constitution.     He  laid  down 
MarshaU's  two  rulcs,  or  canons,  of  Construction:    i.    Every  power  claimed 

Constnictton  for  the  national  Government  must  be  shown  to  have  been 
granted.  The  presumption  was  not  in  favor  of  such  a  power; 
the  burden  of  proof  rested  with  the  one  who  asserted  it.  He 
must  point  out  the  language  of  the  Constitution  by  which  it 
was  expressly  granted  or  implied.  2.  When  it  was  shown  that 
the  purpose  or  end  of  the  power  claimed  for  the  national  Gov- 
ernment had  been  authorized  by  the  Constitution,  then  any 
reasonable  means  which  Congress  saw  fit  to  use  to  carry  out 
that  purpose  or  to  reach  the  end  in  view,  might  be  employed. 
The  court  would  be  strict  in  determining  the  existence  of  a 
power,  but  liberal  in  carrying  out  the  power  if  found  to  exist. 
If  the  people  have  conferred  the  power  in  the  Constitution, 
Congress  is  unlimited  as  to  the  means  which  may  be  taken  to 
realize  the  end  that  may  rightfully  be  claimed. 


THE  CONSTITUTION:    WRITTEN  AND  UNWRITTEN     195 

TOPICS   AND    QUERIES 

1.  What  are  the  advantages  of  an  unwritten  over  a  written  constitution? 

2.  Show  how  the  desire  to  restrain  the  exercise  of  power  led  to  the 

written  constitution  in  America.  Is  there  evidence  to  indicate 
that  the  framers  of  our  Constitution  looked  upon  government 
as  an  evil  thing? 

3.  Are  the  liberties  of  the  people  better  safeguarded  under  one  kind 

of  constitution  than  the  other?     Why? 

4.  Show  how  implied  powers  became  necessary. 

5.  Why  are  certain  acts  twice  forbidden  in  the  Constitution? 

6.  What    motives    prompted    the    difference    between    Hamilton    and 

Jefferson  in  their  construction  of  the  Constitution?  What  was 
the  attitude  of  each  of  these  leaders  toward  government  in 
general? 

REFERENCES 

Beard,  C.  A.  American  Government  and  Politics,  Chap.  IV,  pp.  60-63, 
on  the  "Evolution  of  the  Constitution";  pp.  73-75,  on  the  "Judicial 
Expansion  of  the  Constitution." 

Beard,  C.  A.  Readings  in  American  Government  and  Politics,  pp.  62-69, 
"Expansion  of  the  Constitution." 

Bryce,  James.  The  American  Commonwealth,  Vol.  I,  pp.  30-31; 
Chap.  IV,  pp.  32-37.  Chap.  XXVII,  pp.  312-323.  Chap.  XXXI, 
pp.  360-364.  On  the  "Nature  of  the  Federal  Government"  and 
the  "Growth  and  Development  of  the  Constitution,"  written 
and  unwritten. 

Corwin,  Edward  S.     The  Doctrine  of  Judicial  Review  (1914). 

Guitteau,  William  B.  Government  and  Politics  in  the  United  States. 
Chap.  XX  on  the  "  Development  of  the  Constitution,"  Chap.  XXI, 
on  "  The  Relations  of  Federal  and  State  Governments,"  pp.  226;  246. 

Haines,  Charles  G.  The  American  Doctrine  of  Judicial  Supremacy, 
Chap.  I,  pp.  1-17,  "Unwritten  Constitution, — Legislative 
Supremacy,"   "Written   Constitutions, — Judicial   Supremacy." 

Holt,  Lucius  H.  A  n  Introduction  to  the  Study  of  Government,  pp.  20,  30, 
"The  Constitution,  Written  and  Unwritten." 

Lowell,  A.  Lawrence.  Government  of  England,  pp.  1-15.  On  the 
"Nature  of  the  Unwritten  Constitution." 

Moran,  T.  F.    The  Theory  and  Practice  of  the  English  Government. 

Wilson,  Woodrow.     Constitutional  Government  in  the   United  States. 

Woodburn,  James  A.  The  American  Republic  a>id  its  Government, 
pp.  75-89,  on  the  "  Federal  Constitution  and  the  Distribution  of 
Powers";  pp.  90-93,  122,  274,  391,  on  "Governmental  Usage  and 
the  Unwritten  Constitution." 


CHAPTER   X 


The  American 
Union 


The 
Confederation 


THE  FEDERAL  REPUBLIC:     THE   RELATION   OF 
THE    STATES   TO   THE   NATION 

A  Federal  republic  ^  is  one  that  is  formed  by  a  union  of 
republics.  Its  powers  are  decentralized,  or  divided  among 
local  governments,  also  republican  in  form,  which  have  a  cer- 
tain amount  of  independence  and  power  of  their  own.  Our 
States  were  republics  before  they  formed  the  Union. 

Our  States  had  been  parts  of  the  British  colonial  empire, 
but  in  1776  they  declared  their  independence.  They  acted 
in  unison  to  do  this,  but  after  obtaining  its  independence 
each  State  was  free  to  govern  itself  in  its  own  way. 

The  States,  while  carrying  on  together  their  war  for  inde- 
pendence, first  formed  a  Confederation,  or  League.  This  is 
a  form  of  government  in  which  a  number  of  political  bodies 
(they  might  be  monarchies  or  republics)  are  united  together 
for  certain  purposes,  especially  for  purposes  of  common  de- 
fense and  to  take  care  of  common  interests.  The  members  of 
the  Confederation,  or  League,  are  not  individual  men,  but 
States,  or  nations,  and  it  deals  with  and  acts  upon  States, 
not  upon  individual  citizens.  If  the  States  separate  from  one 
another  the  Confederation  disappears. 

^  A  Federal  republic  may  be  more  or  less  centralized.  It  depends  upon  the 
extent  and  character  of  the  powers  exercised  by  the  central  government. 
Our  republic  is  now  more  centralized  than  it  was  in  the  beginning.  France, 
now  highly  centraHzed,  was,  centuries  ago,  a  group  of  almost  independent 
monarchies,  or  dukedoms,  —  Burgundy,  Brittany,  Aquitaine,  etc.,  each 
for  itself  making  war,  coining  money,  erecting  courts  to  try  offenders,  etc. 
The  rise  of  a  central  monarchy  and  the  subordination  of  the  dukes  and 
counts  to  a  national  king  was  the  growth  of  centuries.  The  French  nation 
was  already  consolidated  when  it  became  a  republic. 

196 


THE   FEDERAL   REPUBLIC 


197 


America  not  a 
League  of 
States 


The  Federal  Nation 

America  is  a  decentralized  Federal  republic.  The  Ameri- 
can government  does  not  represent  a  mere  league,  for  it 
does  not  depend  entirely  upon  the  communities  called 
States.  It  is  "made  up  of  commonwealths  but  it  is  itself  a 
commonwealth,  because  it  claims  directly  the  obedience  of 
every  citizen  and  acts  immediately  upon  him  through  its  courts 
and  executive  officers.  Still  less  are  its  minor  communities, 
the  States,  mere  subdivisions  of  the  Union,  like  the  counties 
of  England  or  the  departments  of  France.  They  have  over 
their  citizens  an  authority  which  is  their  own,  and  not  dele- 
gated by  the  central  government.  They  have  not  been  called 
into  being  by  that  government.  They  existed  before  it;  they 
could  exist  without  it.  The  Union  is  more  than  an  aggrega- 
tion of  States,  and  the  States  are  more  than  parts  of  the 
Union."  ^ 

Both  the  Confederation  and  the  Federal  nation  indicate 
a  union  of  States,  but  the  union  that  formed  the  Federal 
nation  created  a  new  state  or  sovereign  nation.  It  is  a 
state  made  by  a  union,  not  merely  a  union  made  by  States. 
It  is  a  banded  state,  not  merely  a  band  of  States. 

The  student  will  notice  here  that  the  relation  of  an  American 
State  to  the  nation  is  quite  different  from  that  of  a  county 
to  the  State.  The  county  in  one  of  the  States  of  the  Union 
is  like  a  county  in  England,  or  a  department  in  France,  merely 
a  division  or  district  carved  out  for  convenience  in  administer- 
ing and  enforcing  laws  for  local  purposes.  Counties  are  created  Relation  of  the 
by  the  State;  two  of  them  may  be  united  into  one  or  one  of  the  state 
them  carved  into  two,  as  the  central  power  of  the  State  may 
wish  and  determine.  Under  the  Constitution  (for  all  State 
purposes  and  powers)  the  State  is  a  little  centralized  republic 
with  full  powers  over  all  communities  within  its  borders, 
and  all  local  bodies  or  districts  are  subject  to  its  control. 
^  Bryce,  American  Commonwealth,  Vol.  I,  p.  16. 


1 98 


THE   CITIZEN  AND  THE   REPUBLIC 


The  Federal  vs. 
the  National 
Principle 


The  Complex 
National- 
Federal 
Character  of 
our 
Government 


The  counties  did  not  federate  to  make  the  State,  as  the  States 
did  to  make  the  Union.  They  are  merely  administrative 
parts  of  the  State. 

In  1787  the  term  federal  was  used  to  mean  what  we  now  mean 
by  confederate,  and  was  used  in  contradistinction  to  national. 
From  1 781  to  1787  ours  was  a  confederate  government  but  it 
was  always  called  federal.^  It  was  a  government  of  States, 
made  by  the  States,  operating  on  the  States,  or  through  the 
States,  and  it  could  be  dissolved  or  abandoned  by  the  States, 
as  was  done  in  1787  when  the  new  Constitution  was  made. 
A  division  of  sentiment  existed  in  1787  as  to  whether  a  national 
government  should  be  formed.  The  large  States  wished  to 
do  this,  but  the  small  States  were  unwilhng.  Consequently 
a  compromise  was  brought  about,  and  some  uncertainty  was 
felt  as  to  whether  a  national  government  had  been  formed. 

Again  the  student  must  be  referred  to  his  American  history. 
The  Southern  people,  following  their  statesmen,  like  John  C. 
Calhoun  and  Jefferson  Davis,  afterwards  contended  that  a 
confederate  government  had  been  retained  in  1787  and  they 
objected  to  its  being  nationalized  and  consolidated.  They 
claimed  that  the  States  had  not  surrendered  their  sovereignty. 
They  had  delegated  it  to  be  used  only  for  certain  purposes, 
but  had  retained  the  right  to  resume  their  full  sovereignty 
and  independence  by  secession.  They  claimed  the  right  to 
preserve  or  reestablish  the  kind  of  a  union  which,  as  they 
contended,  their  fathers  had  made,  and  therefore  they  sought 
to  set  up  the  Confederate  States  of  A  merica. 

As  we  study  our  government  under  the  Constitution  we 
can  see  that  it  is  partly  national  and  partly  federal  (confederate). 
In  its  origin  it  is  federal.  That  is,  the  Constitution  was  made 
by  the  votes  of  States  and  was  ratified  by  the  people  in  States, 
not  by  the  whole  national  people  at  large.  On  the  basis  of 
power  and  representation,  the  government  is  partly  national, 

^  In  this  passage  we  use  the  word  "  federal "  in  the  sense  of  confed- 
erate. 


THE   FEDERAL   REPUBLIC 


199 


partly  federal.  In  the  House  numbers  of  people  are  repre- 
sented, regardless  of  statehood,  the  States  being  used  merely 
as  convenient  areas  or  districts  for  apportioning  power.  This 
is  a  national  idea.  But  in  the  senate  the  States  are  repre- 
sented as  States,  —  a  federal  idea.  In  the  election  of  the 
President  the  same  complex  character  of  government  is  seen. 
Each  State  is  assigned  two  electors  because  it  is  a  State,  and 
then  more  in  proportion  to  its  population. 

In  the  operation  of  its  powers  the  government  is  national, 
not  federal.  It  operates  on  and  controls  the  individual  citizen 
directly.  It  does  not  depend  on  the  States  for  the  enforcement 
of  its  laws.  It  does  not  need  to  operate  through  the  States 
but  it  may  act,  as  any  other  nation,  of  its  own  right  and  power. 
In  the  extent  of  its  powers  our  government  is  partly  national 
and  partly  Federal.  It  may  do  some  of  the  things  which  all 
national  governments  may  do  while  others  are  left  to  the  States. 
It  may  coin  money  and  make  treaties,  but  it  may  not  license 
a  man  in  Maine  or  Kansas  to  teach  school  or  keep  a  saloon. 
The  national  Government  is  one  of  limited  powers.  This 
division  of  powers  is  more  fully  discussed  in  the  chapters 
on  "The  Powers  of  Congress"  and  "The  States  and  their 
Government." 


Division  of  Powers  between  State  and  Nation 
So  we  see  that  the  people  of  the  United  States,  acting   How  Govern- 


through  their  States,  created  a  Constitution  which  recognizes 
two  governments.  State  and  national.  To  each  of  these 
governments  they  gave  certain  powers,  the  nation  to  be  su- 
preme in  certain  respects,  the  State  in  others.  The  laws  of 
the  nation  are  supreme  as  to  all  objects  assigned  to  it;  the 
laws  of  the  State  are  supreme  in  the  same  way.  Both  govern- 
ments are  the  agents  of  the  same  supreme  power,  the  people; 
both  derive  their  power  from  the  same  source. 

The    nation,    or    the    national    people    embracing    all    the 
States,  is  supreme  over  all  and  may  change  this  assignment 


ment  Powers 
are  divided  be- 
tween State 
and  Nation 


200 


THE  CITIZEN   AND  THE   REPUBLIC 


Forces 
Leading  to 
Nationalization 


The  Union  like 
the  Solar 
System: 
Centrifugal  and 
Centripetal 
Forces 


or  allotment  of  powers  at  any  time.  This  is  merely  saying 
that  the  people  of  the  United  States  are  a  nation,  sovereign 
and  free  to  change  its  form  of  government  as  it  will.  It 
could  establish  a  monarchy  or  become  a  part  of  the  British 
Empire  if  it  chose  to  do  so. 

Of  course,  there  cannot  be  two  supreme  powers  over  each 
other,  but  each  can  be  supreme  in  the  sphere  assigned  to  it 
by  the  Constitution.  The  national  Government  possesses 
those  powers  which  it  can  be  shown  the  people  have  conferred 
upon  it,  and  no  more.  All  the  rest  belong  to  the  State  govern- 
ments, or  to  the  people  themselves  (see  p.  189).  The  Supreme 
Court  has  become  the  umpire,  or  final  arbiter,  to  define  the 
respective  spheres  of  the  State  or  national  Governments,  and 
to  prevent  one  from  encroaching  upon  the  other  (see  p.  329). 

Defining  the  limits  of  power  between  the  State  and  the 
nation;  or  determining  the  rights  of  the  States  and  the 
powers  of  the  national  Government;  or  deciding  whether 
under  the  Constitution  we  really  were  a  nation,  —  this  issue 
has  been  the  greatest  subject  of  controversy  in  our  history. 
Very  early  it  became  the  basis  of  division  between  political 
parties.  It  led  to  the  historic  struggles  over  nullification  and 
secession.  The  Constitution  left  it  a  debatable  question, 
but  the  decisions  of  our  Supreme  Court,  our  growth  toward 
unity,  commercial  interests,  and  economic  forces,  and  es- 
pecially the  great  Civil  War,  have  settled  it.  Now  it  is 
admitted  by  all  that  the  Union  is  not  a  league,  a  mere 
compact  of  States,  but  it  is  a  nation,  one  and  indivisible,  — 
an  "indivisible  union  of  indestructible  States."^ 

The  origin  of  this  union  and  its  growth  have  been  the  most 
important  subjects  in  our  national  history.  A  constant  aim 
has  been  to  preserve  a  fair  balance  between  the  State  and  the 
Nation,  between  the  centrifugal  and  the  centripetal  forces 
in  our  Government.  In  the  convention  of  1787,  which  made 
the  Constitution,  the  Federal  Union  was  very  aptly  compared 
^  The  Supreme  Court  in  Texas  -us.  White. 


THE  FEDERAL  REPUBLIC  201 

to  the  solar  system,  the  national  Government  being  called  the 
sun  and  the  States  the  planets,  each  moving  in  its  proper 
orbit.  If  the  centrifugal  force  became  too  strong  the  planet 
states  would  fly  off  into  space  and  be  lost;  if,  on  the  other  hand, 
the  centripetal  force  became  too  strong  the  States  might  be 
drawn  into  the  sun's  consuming  center  and  be  melted  into  a 
consolidated  mass.  The  people  of  America  have  established 
a  dual  system,  with  a  Federal  Government  representing  the 
nation,  which  will  not  permit  itself  to  be  destroyed,  and  this 
government  is  to  safeguard  all  national  interests;  while  at  the 
same  time  they  have  preserved  the  States  with  full  powers 
to  take  care  of  all  their  local  domestic  concerns.  While  the 
American  people  constitute  a  nation  like  the  people  of  any 
other  country,  yet  they  act  and  are  governed  not  as  one  solid 
mass  of  people  but  by  means  of  their  several  States,  organized 
and  acting  as  separate  pohtical  communities.  So  the  Federal 
republic  of  America  may  be  defined  as  a  federal-national 
democratic  republic,  not  consolidated  but  federal,  with  local 
self-government  in  the  Slates  under  the  protection  of  a  united 
nation.  This  enables  a  strong  government  to  operate  over  an 
extended  area  while  preserving  local  governments  close  to  the 
people  for  local  affairs.  Such  is  the  e  pluribus  unum  of  the 
American  Union.  ^ 

TOPICS   AND    QUERIES 

1.  Explain  how  in  American  history  a  confederation  of  States  grew  into 

a  Federal  nation.     Explain  these    terms  and  tell  what  conflicts, 
in  forum  and  field,  occurred  over  this  growth. 

2.  What  nationalizing  influences   promoted   the   change   from   a  con- 

federate to  a  national  government? 

3.  Illustrate  the  difference  between  the  relation  of  a  county  to  the  State 

and  the  relation  of  a  State  to  the  nation. 

'  The  distribution  of  powers  between  these  two  governments, 
Federal  and  State,  is  discussed  in  subsequent  chapters. 

For  the  merits  and  demerits  of  the  Federal  system  of  government  as 
compared  with  those  of  a  consolidated  national  system,  see  Bryce's 
American  Commonwealth,  Vol.  I,  pp.  341-359,  Chaps.  XXIX,  XXX. 


202  THE   CITIZEN   AND  THE   REPUBLIC 

4.  Explain  how  the  framcrs  of  the  Constitution  came  to  divide  the 
powers  of  government  between  the  State  and  the  nation?  What 
kind  of  powers  did  they  wish  to  assign  to  each?  What  conflicts 
followed  as  to  the  limits  of  the  powers  of  each?  Who  is  the 
umpire  in  cases  of  dispute?  May  any  power  overrule  the  umpire's 
decision? 

REFERENCES 

Ashley,  Roscoe  L.  The  American  Federal  Slate,  pp.  198-206. 
Beard,  C.  A.  American  Governmenl  and  Politics,  pp.  145-152. 
Bryce,  James.    American    Cojnmonweallh,  Vol.  I,    Chaps.    II   and   III, 

PP-  15-31- 
Hart,  A.  B.    Actual  Government,  pp.  48-53;    114-118. 
Hinsdale,  B.  A.    The  American  Government,  pp.  1 18-124. 
Wilson,  Woodrow.    Constitutional    Government    of    the     United    States, 

Chap.  VII. 
Willoughby,  W.  W.    The  Nature  of  the  Slate,  Chap.  X,  pp.  232-243. 
Woodbum,  James  A.    The    American    Republic    and    its    Government, 
pp.  60-73. 


CHAPTER  XI 
POLITICAL  PARTIES,  PAST  AND  PRESENT 

The  Government  is  managed  by  parties.  If  we  are  to 
understand  how  we  are  governed  we  must  understand  how  our 
parties  are  governed.  If  we  wish  to  govern  ourselves  we  must 
govern  our  parties.  All  our  officers,  from  the  President  down 
to  city  councilmen  and  township  officers,  are  usually  nominated 
by  party  processes  and  elected  on  party  tickets.  The  party 
is  the  means,  or  agency,  by  which  representative  popular 
government  is  carried  on. 

The  President  a  Party  Leader 

The  history  of  America  shows  that  all  the  Presidents  except 
Washington  were  elected  as  party  leaders.  They  conducted 
their  administrations  not  only  with  a  view  to  the  welfare  of 
the  country  but  with  a  desire  to  promote  the  interest  and 
success  of  their  respective  parties.  Every  President  after 
Washington  has  made  up  his  Cabinet  out  of  his  own  party 
leaders.  There  have  been  so  few  exceptions  to  this  practice 
since  Washington's  time  that  they  may  be  disregarded,  and 
these  few  have  occurred  for  party  reasons  and  from  party 
tactics. 

Every  President  since  Washington  has  taken  counsel  of  his 
party  managers  in  the  States.  His  appointments  were  from 
among  his  party  followers  and  workers,  and  in  many  ways 
the  President  has  sought  to  strengthen  his  party,  and  to 
make  it  successful  in  the  next  election.  Washington  sought 
to  conduct  his  administration  without  regard  to  party.  He 
deplored  party  strife  and  an  excess  of  party  zeal.     He  feared 

203 


Government 
by  Party 


204 


THE  CITIZEN   AND  THE   REPUBLIC 


Washington's 
Attitude 
toward  Parties 


Hamilton  us. 
Jefferson 


The  President's 
Cabinet 
must  be 
homogeneous 
in  Politics 


that  parties  would  become  sectional,  divided  by  geographical 
lines,  and  that  men  would  be  sectional  partisans  rather  than 
national  patriots,  and  that  party  strliggles  would  divide  the 
country  into  factions  and  prevent  what  America  then  needed 
most  of  all,  —  the  spirit  of  unity  and  a  love  for  a  united 
country  that  would  enable  the  States  to  maintain  their  in- 
dependence against  foreign  influence.  Moreover,  Washington 
looked  upon  the  Presidency,  as  did  many  of  the  men  who 
framed  the  Constitution,  as  being  an  office  apart  from  parties, 
or  above  parties,  like  the  English  kingship,  and  he  sought  at 
first  to  conduct  his  administration  by  holding  a  fair,  judicial, 
and  impartial  attitude   toward  differing  party  groups. 

He  therefore  called  into  the  same  cabinet  Hamilton  and  Jef- 
ferson, who  differed  on  almost  every  public  question  and  who 
turned  out  to  be  bitter  opponents  of  one  another  and  the 
leaders  of  their  respective  parties  for  the  next  ten  years. 
Even  while  they  were  together  in  Washington's  Cabinet  these 
two  leaders  fought  one  another  like  Kilkenny  cats  on  almost 
every  question  that  arose.  So  Washington  had  to  decide 
between  these  opposing  advisers  when  disputes  occurred. 
When  he  leaned,  for  the  most  part,  toward  Hamilton,  on 
the  financial  and  constitutional  issues  that  came  up,  Jefferson 
soon  resigned  and  became  the  leader  of  a  party  of  oppo- 
sition. Jefferson  thought  Washington  had  been  led  astray 
by  monarchical  English  influences.^ 

It  was  found  even  before  Washington's  term  expired  that 
the  President  and  his  Cabinet  would  have  to  be  homogeneous 
in  politics,  —  that  is,  they  would  have  to  be,  in  the  main,  of 
the  same  mind,  opinions,  and  purposes  in  matters  of  public 
policy.  They  must  all  stand  together  and  pull  in  one  direction 
or  the  administration  would  be  wrecked  and  could  accomplish 
nothing  in  carrying  out  public  measures.  This  made  the 
administration  and  its  supporters  a  party,  and  those  who 
opposed  their  policies  became  the  opposition  party.  From 
'  See  Jefferson's  Mazzei  letter. 


POLITICAL   PARTIES,   PAST  AND   PRESENT         205 


Washington's  time  to  the  present  day  there  have  been  two 
main  parties  in  the  country  contending  for  the  control  of  the 
government,  —  the  party  in  power  striving  to  stay  in  and  the 
party  out  of  poiver  striving  to  get  in.  These  parties  have  been 
known  by  different  names  and  there  have  been  a  number  of 
minor  parties  organized  for  special  purposes,  but  all  through 
our  history  men  have  understood  that  the  government  is  to 
be  controlled  and  administered  by  a  party.  Wherever,  as  in 
our  country,  men  are  striving  to  govern  themselves,  the  great 
moving  forces  that  are  organized  for  controlling  the  govern- 
ment and  determining  its  public  policies  are  political  parties. 
It  is  therefore  very  important  that  we  should  understand  how 
these  parties  are  organized  and  how  they  do  their  work. 

Political  Parties  Defined 

"A  party  is  a  body  of  men  united  for  promoting  by  their 
joint  endeavors  the  national  interest  upon  some  principle  on 
which  they  are  all  agreed." 

This  is  Burke's  famous  definition  of  a  party.  In  general 
it  may  be  accepted  as  what  a  party  oiigJit  to  be.  It  is  a  wise 
conception  of  the  general  nature  of  a  party.  But  as  a  descrip- 
tion of  either  of  the  two  large  political  parties  in  America, 
either  now  or  for  many  years  past,  it  cannot  be  fully  accepted. 
It  would  certainly  not  be  quite  accurate  to  say  that  either  the 
Republican  or  the  Democratic  party  is  now,  or  has  been  for 
twenty  years  past,  composed  of  men  who  are  "united"  for 
promoting  some  principle  or  policy  on  which  they  are  "all 
agreed."  Each  of  these  parties  has  been  sharply  divided 
within  itself  in  recent  years.  When  a  party  is  young  and  out 
of  power  its  members  are  more  likely  to  be  united  on  certain 
great  principles  and  policies  which  they  wish  the  government 
to  adopt.  But  when  the  party  grows  larger  and  gets  into 
power,  and  especially  when  the  times  change  and  new  con- 
ditions and  new  issues  arise,  the  members  of  the  party  naturally 
tend  to  divisions  and  quarrels  among  themselves. 


The  Party 
Administration 
and  the 
Opposition 


What  is  a 
Political  Party? 


Divisions  and 
Factions 
within  a  Party 


2o6  THE   CITIZEN   AND  THE   REPUBLIC 

Instead  of  the  members  of  our  political  parties  agreeing 
among  themselves,  the  men  who  are  really  agreed  on  the  new 
principles  and  policies  are  often  to  be  found  in  different  parties, 
and  the  differences  and  conflicts  between  the  two  wings  of 
each  party  (the  radicals  and  the  conservatives,  it  may  be) 
become  more  pronounced  and  bitter  than  are  the  conflicts 
between  the  two  opposing  parties  themselves.  The  conflicts 
and  antagonisms  are  within  the  parties  rather  than  between 
the  parties.  This  has  been  illustrated  several  times  in  our  his- 
tory. It  was  illustrated  when  the  slavery  question  arose, 
and  it  is  well  illustrated  in  recent  politics  on  what  has  come 
to  be  known  as  progressive  policies.  So,  since  men  who  are 
nominally  in  the  same  party  differ  stoutly  on  public  measures 
and  political  tendencies  we  should  look  for  another  definition 
of  a  party. 

"What  constitutes  a  party?     In  America  there  is  a  simple 

test.     Any  section  of  men  who  nominate  candidates  of  their 

Bryce's  q^j^  f^j.  |-j^g  presidency  and  vice  presidency  of  the  United 

Definition  of  ^  \  ,,.  . 

an  American    States  are  deemed  a  national  party.    ^     Of  course,  a  true  party 
^*^  should  represent  issues  and  principles,  since  where  these  do  not 

exist  a  party  depends  for  its  success  upon  its  organization. 
It  must  have  pledges  first  and  principles  afterwards;  its 
members,  having  first  decided  to  agree,  must  make  up  their 
minds  as  to  what  they  are  to  agree  about.  This  is  an  arti- 
ficial or  an  unhealthy  condition,  or  idea,  of  a  party.  We  ought, 
then,  to  define  a  party  as  a  more  or  less  organized  group  of 
citizens,  acting  together  as  a  political  unit,  professing  to  share 
the  same  opinions  on  public  questions  and  exercising  their 
voting  power  to  obtain  control  of  the  government  by  nomi- 
nating a  ticket  for  President  and  Vice  President.  This  defini- 
tion harmonizes  with  the  facts  and  by  it  we  see  that  there  are 
several  political  parties  in  America  at  the  present  time,  as 
there  have  been  many  more  in  the  past. 

'  Bryce,  American  Commonwealth,  Vol.  II,  p.  41. 


POLITICAL   PARTIES,    PAST  AND   PRESENT         207 


The  Leading  American  Parties 

The  principal  parties  in  America  for  more  than  fifty  years 
have  been  the  Republican  and  the  Democratic.     Since   1861    RepubUcan  and 

.       .      ,  Democratic 

the  Repubhcan  party  has  been  m  power,  — that  is,  it  has  Parties 
controlled  the  presidency  —  with  the  exception  of  the  two 
terms  of  President  Cleveland  (1885-1889;  1893-1897)  and 
the  two  terms  of  President  Wilson.  Some  may  count  President 
Johnson's  term  as  democratic  (i 865-1 869).  Andrew  Johnson 
was  elected  as  a  "Union"  man  in  1864  to  the  Vice  Presidency, 
with  Lincoln,  and  when  he  became  President,  he  opposed  the 
Republican  leaders  in  Congress.  He  was  really  never  a 
Republican.  During  these  fifty  years  the  Democrats  have 
been  in  control  of  either  one  or  both  houses  of  Congress  for 
a  part  of  the  time,  and  also  for  much  of  the  time  of  several 
of  the  States.  All  of  the  former  slave  States,  known  as  the 
"Solid  South,"  have  been  Democratic  during  most  of  this 
period,  owing  chiefly  to  the  race  problem  and  the  issues  and 
recollections  of  reconstruction  times.  The  States  of  New 
England,  Pennsylvania,  and  the  Northwest  have  generally 
been  Republican,  partly  on  account  of  the  divisions  and 
traditions  coming  down  from  the  Civil  War,  partly  on  account 
of  their  interest  in  a  protective  tariff  and  the  gold  standard 
of  money. 

It  is  not  easy  to  tell  the  differences  between   these  two    oifferences 
parties  as  they  are  constituted  to-day.     In  general  it  may    Two  Large 
be  said  that  the  Republicans  favor  a  high  protective  tariff   Parties 
while  the  Democrats  favor  a  "  tariff  for  revenue  only,"  although 
among  the  Republicans  there  are  many  men  who  have  been 
wiUing  to  "revise  the  tariff  downward,"  while  several  Demo-    "^^"^ 
cratic  Southern  States,  where  factories  have  been  rising  or 
sugar  interests  are  important,  as  in  Louisiana,  have  leanings 
toward  protection,  as  has  always  been  the  case  among  the 
Democrats  of  Pennsylvania  and  the  Northern  manufacturing 
centers.     As  a  rule,  on  questions  of  the  rights  and  powers    states'  Rights 


208 


THE   CITIZEN   AND  THE   REPUBLIC 


Authority  ts. 
Liberty:    The 
Extent  of 
Government 
Powers  and 
Enterprises 


of  the  States  as  against  the  National  Government,  and  on 
strict  construction  as  against  broad  construction  of  the 
Constitution,  the  Democratic  party  will  be  found  on  the 
side  of  the  States  and  strict  construction,  while  the  Re- 
publican party  has  been  on  the  side  of  broad  construction 
and  national  powers.  These  issues,  speaking  broadly, 
have  been  the  continuing  basis  of  division  between  the 
parties  for  more  than  a  hundred  years.  However,  the  par- 
ties have  not  been  clearly  tested  on  nationalism  and  States' 
rights  within  recent  years,  and  on  any  specific  case  that 
might  arise  they  would  be  likely  to  be  found  divided  among 
themselves. 

In  1894,  during  the  great  railroad  strikes  in  Chicago,  Presi- 
dent Cleveland  and  Governor  Altgeld  of  Illinois,  both  Demo- 
crats, differed  on  this  subject,  the  President  asserting  the 
Federal  power  in  Illinois  over  the  protest  of  the  Governor, 
who  stood  for  the  power  of  the  State  to  take  care  of  itself 
without  interference.  The  difference,  however,  was  not  so 
much  on  States'  rights  as  it  was  a  difference  in  the  attitude 
of  the  two  men  toward  the  social  and  labor  problems  of  the 
day. 

The  party  in  power  is  more  inclined  to  broad  construction 
and  national  powers,  while  the  party  out  of  power  is  dis- 
posed to  oppose  these  policies,  and  neither  party  in  itself  is 
altogether  united  on  the  subject.  But  historical  traditions 
and  tendencies  have  distinguished  the  two  parties  as  we  have 
indicated. 

As  a  rule  the  Democrats  are  more  disposed  to  leave  men 
to  themselves,  with  only  as  little  interference  from  government 
as  necessary.  This  party  is  inclined  to  stand  for  liberty  as 
against  too  much  government,  on  the  Jeffersonian  principle 
that  "that  gov^ernment  is  best  which  governs  least."  On  the 
other  hand,  the  Republicans,  like  the  Whigs  and  Federalists 
before  them,  are  disposed  to  think  more  of  law  and  order  and 
governmentci,!  restraints  and  are  willing  to  rely  more  on  the 


POLITICAL    PARTIES,    PAST   AND    PRESENT         200 

authority  of  the  government.  They  are  more  ready  to  increase 
government  functions  and  projects,  —  such  as  banks,  tariffs, 
internal  improvements,  ship  subsidies,  colonial  expansion, 
an  enlarged  navy,  etc.,  though  on  some  of  these  and  other 
governmental  projects  like  a  parcels  post,  government  tele- 
graph, telephones  and  railways  or  regulation  of  railway  rates, 
pure  food  laws,  and  control  of  the  trusts,  we  find  again  each 
party  divided  within  itself,  with  the  Democrats  rather  more 
disposed  than  the  Republicans  to  allow  the  Government  to 
assume  these  larger  functions  in  the  interest  of  the  people. 
It  should  be  understood,  therefore,  thai,  it  is  only  by  these 
general  tendencies  that  the  parties  are  to  be  distinguished 
from  each  other,  and  men  of. different  kinds  and  shades  of 
opinions  on  all  these  subjects  are  to  be  found  in  each 
party. 

Party  Divisions 

Since  1896,  when  Mr.  Bryan  became  the  chosen  leader  of 
the  Democrats,  and  in  1901  when  Mr.  Roosevelt  came  into 
the  Presidency  for  the  Republicans,  the  differences  within  each 
party  on  these  larger  powers  for  government  have  been  more 
pronounced,  a  radical  and  a  conservative  wing  appearing  in 
each  party.  Conservative  Democrats  differ  very  little  from 
conservative  Republicans,  and  the  radicals  in  both  parties  are 
very  much  alike. 

These  differences  within  the  Republican  party  in  191 2 
split  that  party  in  two,  the  radicals  following  Mr.  Roosevelt, 
the  conservatives  following  Mr.  Taft.  Factional  and  per- 
sonal quarrels  and  certain  party  abuses  also  aided  in  promoting 
this  division. 

Essentially  the  same  divisions  have  existed  within  the  ranks 
of  the  Democratic  party,  Mr.  Bryan  being  one  of  the  leaders  of 
the  Democratic  Progressives.  He  was  influential  in  bringing 
about  President  Wilson's  nomination  in  1912.  Democratic 
Progressives    remained    within    their   own    party   and    many 


210  THE   CITIZEN   AND  THE   REPUBLIC 

progressive  Republicans  voted  for  Wilson  against  President 
Taft. 

The  conservative  is  one  who  is  disposed  to  be  satisfied 
with  things  as  they  are,  who  looks  with  indifference,  if  not 
with  hostility,  on  proposed  remedies  and  reforms;  who  tends 
to  revere  the  past  and  look  with  suspicion  and  fear  on  all 
changes;  whose  chief  concern  in  government  is  for  order, 
safety,  and  stabiHty.  He  may  not  oppose  progress,  but  he 
would  first  make  sure  he  is  right;  and  he  would  seek  approval 
in  old  and  well-established  methods  and  principles.  He  es- 
pecially dislikes  to  have  agitators  and  reformers  "tampering 
with  the  foundations  and  pillars  of  the  State."  If  he  is  an 
extreme  conservative  he  is  called  a  reactionary,  one  who 
opposes  progress  and  wishes  to  go  back,  or  hold  back,  to  old 
principles  or  policies  that  have  been  discarded  by  the  people, 
or  to  return  to  the  methods  and  institutions  of  the  past.  The 
reactionary  is  sometimes  called  a  tory  or  bourbon,  terms  derived 
from  English  and  French  history. 

The  radical,  on  the  other  hand,  is  one  who  seeks  changes 
and  reforms.     He  wishes  to  go  to  the  root  of  political  evils. 
The  He  beheves  that  government  is  like  an  organic  body,  —  it 

and  the  must  grow  and  expand  and  adapt  itself  to  new  conditions 

Radical  ^f  society;    that  it  is  subject  to  diseases  which  must  be  up- 

rooted and  cast  out.  He  is  optimistic  and  eager  for  new 
experiments  and  does  not  hold  to  institutions  and  laws  merely 
because  they  are  old.  If  he  is  an  extreme  radical  he  may  be 
a  revolutionist. 

The  conservative  is  more  hkely  to  stand  for  property  and 
privilege,  the  radical  for  liberty  and  democracy.  Conser- 
vatism looks  with  suspicion  on  liberty,  for  fear  of  license  and 
disorder;  radicalism  looks  with  suspicion  on  governmental 
and  constitutional  restraints,  for  fear  of  despotism  and  op- 
pression. In  driving  Uncle  Sam's  team,  conservatism  is 
more  likely  to  use  the  brakes,  radicalism  the  whip.  Radi- 
calism may  mean  progress  and  betterment,  but  it  might  also 


POLITICAL   PARTIES,    PAST  AND   PRESENT         2il 

mean  destruction.  Conservatism  may  mean  safety  and 
peace,  but  it  might  also  mean  stagnation  and  death.  We 
may  say  that  we  ought  to  seek  a  golden  mean,  to  be  con- 
servatively  radical,  that  is,  liberal  and  progressive  but  not 
revolutionary.^ 

The  liberal  is  the  moderate  radical  who  wishes  to  reform 
existing  institutions,  but  not  to  upturn  them;  he  wishes  to 
go  forward,  but  not  too  fast.  The  Uberals  claim  to  be  true 
progressives  and  they  are  found  in  both  of  our  large  present- 
day  parties.  If  reactionaries  and  conservatives  were  to-  The  Liberal 
gether  in  one  party  and  liberals  and  radicals  were  together  in 
another  party,  we  should  have  a  natural  division  of  two 
great  poHtical  parties,  resting  on  fundamental  psychological 
principles.  But  men  representing  different  degrees  of  these 
tendencies  are  divided  among  the  several  parties,  —  Repub- 
lican, Democratic,  Progressive,  Socialist. 

The  radicals  call  themselves  "progressives"  and  their  • 
opponents  "reactionaries"  and  "standpatters,"  that  is,  those 
who  stand  fast  for  the  old  lines.  The  Republican  "progres- 
sives" in  Congress  under  Republican  rule  were  at  first  called 
"insurgents,"  because  they  were  in  revolt  against  their  party 
"system"  and  the  control  of  legislation  by  a  small  coterie 
of  leaders  in  charge  of  the  machinery  and  management  of  the 
House  and  Senate.  They  rebelled  against  what  they  called 
the  autocratic  one-man  power  of  the  Speaker  and  the  "big 
business  capitalistic  oligarchy"  in  the  Senate.  The  Con- 
servatives deplored  the  dangers  to  business  and  to  property 
and  prosperity  by  agitations  and  changes  that  are  led  by 
men  whom  they  looked  upon  as  discontented  and  emotional 
reformers,  and  whose  teachings  (as  the  conservatives  claimed) 
were  leading  the  country  toward  socialism  or  anarchy. 

The  policies  that  have  been  urged  by  the  "Progressives" 
of  all  parties  may  be  summed  up  as  follows : 

1  See  Leacock's  Elements  of  Political  Science  for  a  definition  of  the 
Liberal. 


Progressive 
Policies 


212  THE   CITIZEN   AND  THE   REPUBLIC 

1.  Equal  industrial  opportunities  for  all,  and  equal  punish- 
ment for  all  illegal  acts,  whether  committed  by  large  cor- 
porations or  by  individuals.  They  claim  that  money  and 
large  corporations  have  had  too  much  weight  in  making  and 
enforcing  the  laws,  and  that  the  people  should  strive  for  in- 
dustrial democracy  as  well  as  political  democracy. 

2.  Government  regulation  of  public  service  corporations, 
especially  the  railways,  which  should  be  brought  under  more 
direct  public  control  and  be  made  to  serve  all  equally.  Many 
of  the  Progressives  urge  a  government  telegraph  and  gov- 
ernment telephones.  This  includes  a  physical  valuation  of 
railroad  property  as  a  basis  of  taxation  and  the  regulation 
of  rates. 

3.  The  development  of  water-ways,  to  supplement  and  to 
help  control  the  railways,  as  avenues  of  transportation, 

4.  The  promotion  of  agriculture  by  encouraging  small 
holdings  of  land  and  giving  titles  to  home-seekers. 

5.  The  conservation  of  public  resources  under  national 
authority,  —  water  power  for  irrigation,  the  forests,  the  mines, 
and  ungranted  homesteads  for  home-seekers. 

6.  Popular  election  of  United  States  Senators  and  of  dele- 
gates to  party  conventions,  under  some  plan  like  that  in  use 
in  Oregon.  This  has  now  been  secured  by  the  Seventeenth 
Amendment. 

7.  The  income  tax,  inheritance  taxes,  franchise  taxes,  and 
other  tax  reforms. 

8.  Direct  control  by  the  people  in  law-making  and  in 
the  conduct  of  their  political  parties  by  means  of  the  initiative, 
the  referendum,  and  direct  party  primaries  (see  pp.  36-52). 

9.  Equal  suffrage  for  all,  men  and  women  alike. 

10.  To  these  may  be  added  the  short  ballot,  preferential  vot- 
ing, and  efforts  for  what  has  been  called  "social  justice,"  that 
is,  that  the  richer  and  more  powerful  classes  may  not  cheat 
the  public  or  work  injustice  to  the  laboring  masses. 

These  are  some   of   the  issues  which  both  political  parties 


POLITICAL   PARTIES,    PAST  AND   PRESENT         213 


are  now  struggling  over  within  themselves.  Some  of  these 
reforms  have  already  been  obtained.  It  will  be  seen  to  be  a 
struggle  for  proposed  or  radical  reforms,  and,  for  the  most 
part,  a  struggle  for  more  democracy,  for  a  more  direct  rule 
by  the  people  themselves  as  against  representative  government 
under  the  old  forms,  for  a  square  deal  and  equal  rights  for  all. 

Minor  Parties 

In  addition  to  the  two  large  parties  there  are  a  number  of 
minor  parties,  sometimes  called  "third  parties." 

The  Prohibition  Party  has  lived  longer  than  any  other 
third  party  in  our  history.  It  first  nominated  a  presidential 
ticket  in  1S72,  and  has  had  a  national  ticket  in  the  field  in  every 
campaign  since.  The  party  stands  for  the  abolition  of  the 
manufacture  and  sale  of  intoxicating  beverages.  It  claims 
that  this  is  the  most  important  issue  before  the  people  and 
that  the  other  issues  on  which  the  Democrats  and  Repub- 
licans ^eek  to  divide  the  voters  are  "subterfuges  under  the 
cover  of  which  they  wrangle  for  the  spoils  of  office."  In  1872 
the  party  polled  5608  votes,  and  in  191 2  it  had  207,965  votes. 
The  party  is  made  up  of  morally  earnest  and  faithful  men. 
It  has  been  successful  in  leading  old  party  legislators  in  some 
of  the  States  to  favor  local  option  and  other  anti-liciuor  laws 
for  fear  their  voters  of  prohibition  leanings  might  otherwise 
go  off  into  the  Prohibition  party.  The  "Anti-Saloon  League," 
representing  a  cooperation  of  church  anti-lic^uor  workers,  is 
made  up  of  men  of  all  parties  and  is  not  identified  with  the 
Prohibitionists 

The  People's  Party,  or  the  "Populists,"  appeared  in  1892 
as  a  successor  to  the  Greenback  and  Labor  Reform  parties. 
It  was  an  attempt  in  politics  to  combine  the  laboring  classes, — 
the  organized  labor  of  the  cities  and  the  farmers'  Granges 
and  Alliances  of  the  country.  In  1892  it  polled  more  than 
1,200,000  votes  for  James  B.  Weaver  for  President,  and  this 
entitles  it  to  be  called  the  largest  "third  party"  in  our  his- 


The 
Prohibitionists 


The 
Populists 


214  THE  CITIZEN   AND  THE   REPUBLIC 

tory.'  In  1896  the  influence  of  this  party  was  quite  power- 
ful in  determining  the  course  of  the  Democratic  party.  After 
Mr.  Bryan's  nomination  by  the  Democrats  on  a  platform 
favorable  to  some  of  the  Populist  demands,  this  party  in- 
dorsed him  for  President,  and  a  fusion  was  brought  about 
between  the  Democrats  and  the  Populists.  The  Populists 
who  refused  to  join  the  fusion  kept  up  for  some  time  in- 
dependent nominations  and  were  known  as  the  "  Middle-of- 
the-Road  Populists." 

The  Populists  demanded  that  the  railroads  be  brought  more 
fully  under  State  control  and  ownership,  in  order  to  secure 
fairer  treatment  to  the  producers,  consumers,  and  shippers; 
that  the  pubHc  lands,  the  "heritage  of  the  people,"  should  not 
be  monopolized  for  speculative  purposes,  but  should  be  reserved 
for  actual  settlers;  that  the  telegraph  and  telephone  systems, 
like  the  post  office,  should  be  owned  and  operated  by  the  Gov- 
ernment in  the  interest  of  the  people,  with  all  government 
employes  under  strict  civil  service  regulations;  that  there 
should  be  an  increase  of  the  currency  to  $50  per  capita,  by 
the  issue  of  greenbacks  as  full  legal-tender  money,  issued 
directly  by  the  Government  and  not  by  the  banks;  and,  along 
with  this,  that  there  should  be  free  and  unlimited  coinage  of 
gold  and  silver;  a  graduated  income  tax;  a  postal  savings 
bank.  The  party  also  recommended  the  iniatitive  and  referen- 
dum. It  will  be  seen  from  these  demands  that  the  People's 
party  was  the  forerunner,  the  sponsor  and  promoter,  of  many 
of  the  "progressive"  policies  of  the  present  day.  It  repre- 
sented, in  some  respects,  a  tendency  towards  socialism,  in 
calling  for  a  larger  State  agency  and  activity  in  solving  our 
industrial  problems. 
The  Socialists         j/je  Socialist  Parly  in  the  United  States  was  formed  by  a 

'The  Progressive  Party  in  191 2  was  the  second  party  in  number  of 
votes  (over  4,000,000).  But  the  Republican  Party  in  that  year  should 
hardly  be  thought  of  as  a  "third  party"  in  the  ordinary  sense.  Its 
vote  may  be  thought  of  as  having  been  divided  under  two  names. 


POLITICAL   PARTIES,   PAST  AND   PRESENT         215 

union  in  1900  between  the  Social  Democratic  party  and  the 
Socialist  Labor  party.  An  organized  body  of  SociaHsts 
existed  under  the  name  of  the  Socialist  Labor  party  as  early 
as  1877,  but  the  party  first  appeared  with  a  presidential 
ticket  in  1892,  and  polled  21,000  votes.  The  Social  Dem- 
ocratic party  was  organized  in  1897  under  the  leadership 
of  Eugene  V.  Debs,  partly  as  a  result  of  the  failure  of  the 
great  railway  strikes  of  1894.  In  1900  these  two  socialist 
parties  united  and  nominated  Eugene  V.  Debs,  of  Indiana,  for 
President,  and  Job  Harriman,  of  California,  for  Vice  President. 
The  United  SociaHsts  have  since  been  known  as  the  Socialist 
party,  and  Mr.  Debs  was  its  presidential  candidate  at  every 
election  till  1916. 

Some  of  the  followers  of  the  Socialist  Labor  party  refused  to 
go  into  the  union.  They  have  since  kept  up  a  separate  party 
and  have  nominated  separate  tickets.  They  represent  only 
a  small  and  extreme  class  of  socialists,  their  ticket  in  19 16 
receiving  only  29,071  votes. 

The  vote  of  the  Socialist  party  has  increased  from  87,000 
in  1900  to  420,000  in  1908,  and  to  898,296  in  the  national 
elections  of  191 2,  though  the  vote  declined  to  590,000  in 
1916.  The  party  has  elected  two  Congressmen  (Victor  L. 
Berger,  of  Milwaukee,  and  Mr.  Meyer  London,  of  New  York 
City),  the  mayors  of  several  cities,  and  some  members  of 
State  legislatures. 

The  Socialists  generally  favor  putting  the  unemployed  to 
work  on  pubUc  works  and  improvements;  the  public  owner- 
ship of  telegraphs,  telephones,  railroads,  steamship  lines, 
and  other  means  of  transportation  and  communication,  and 
of  all  other  industries  in  which  competition  has  ceased  to 
exist.  They  advocate  the  inheritance  tax  and  the  income 
tax;  equal  suffrage  for  men  and  women;  the  initiative  and 
referendum;  the  abolition  of  the  United  States  Senate,  and  the 
taking  away  from  the  Supreme  Court  the  power  to  declare 
acts  of  Congress  null  and  void.     They  form  one  of  our  most 


2i6  THE   CITIZEN   AND  THE   REPUBLIC 

radical  parties,  with  pronounced  democratic  purposes,  and 
with  some  members  of  a  revolutionary  tendency.  The 
Socialists  throughout  the  world  have  generally  been  opposed 
to  war,  though  in  the  Great  European  War  they  have,  for  the 
most  part,  supported  their  respective  countries.  The  majority 
of  the  American  Socialists  on  a  referendum  vote  among  the 
members  of  the  party  opposed  the  entrance  of  the  United 
States  into  the  war,  voting  for  the  statement  that  Germany's 
conduct  did  not  justify  such  a  course.  Most  of  the  intel- 
lectual leaders  of  this  party  left  it  in  support  of  the  war,  but 
the  party  organization  has  been  under  the  control  of  pacifists 
and  opposers  of  war. 

TOPICS   AND    QUERIES 

1.  Debate:    "Resolved,  that  party  radicalism  in  the  past  has  been  of 

greater  service  to  the  country  than  party  conservatism." 

2.  Debate:    "Resolved,  that  in  American  politics  to-day  we  need  radi- 

calism more  than  conservatism." 

3.  Debate:    "Resolved,  that  third  parties  have  done  more  good  than 

harm  in  our  history." 

4.  Why  did  Washington  wish  to  make  the  President  independent  of 

parties?     Why  did  he  fail?     Is  it  better  as  it  is? 

5.  Debate:    "Resolved,    that   voters   should   be   more  independent   of 

parties." 

6.  Why  is  it  so  difficult  to  form  a  third  party  and  bring  it  into  first 

place?     Is  the  two  party  system  desirable? 

7.  Was  the  Democratic  party  as  democratic  as  the  Republican  party 

when  the  latter  was  formed,  1854-1860?     Why? 

8.  What  is  the  difference  between  a  Democrat  and  a  democrat? 

REFERENCES 

Bryce,  James.    American  Commomvcalth,  Vol.  II,  Chap.  53,  pp.  3-20. 
Croly,  Herbert.    The  Promise  of  American  Life,  Chaps  II  and  III,  on 

"Federalists  and  Republicans,"  "Democrats  and  Whigs." 
Hopkins,  James  H.    Political  Parties  in  the    United  Slates.     A  number 

of  party  platforms  after  1840. 
Kellock,  Harold,  "  A  New  Liberal  Party,"  in  Century  Magazine,  October, 

1917. 
Macy,  Jesse.    Political  Parties  in  the    United  States,   1846-1861- 
McClure,  A.  K.    Our  Presidents  and  How  We  Make  Them. 


POLITICAL   PARTIES,    PAST  AND   PRESENT         217 

McKee,  Thomas  H.  National  Conventions  and  Platforms  of  all  Political 
Parties. 

Merriam,  C.  E.  American  Political  Theories,  Chaps.  IV  and  V,  "Jeffer- 
sonian  and  Jacksonian  Democracy." 

Stanwood,  Edward.  A  History  of  the  Presidency,  an  account  of  suc- 
cessive presidential  contests  with  copies  of  the  party  platforms, 
1 789-1896,  continued  in  a  second  volume  to  1908. 

VVoodburn,  James  A.  Political  Parties  and  Party  Problems  in  the 
United  States,  pp.  3-233.     A  summary  of  party  history  in  America. 

See  other  references  following  Chapter  XII. 


The  Party 
Machine 


CHAPTER  XII 

PARTIES   AND   THEIR   MACHINERY:    HOW  A  PARTY 
NOMINATES   AND   ELECTS   A   PRESIDENT 

By  the  party  machine  is  meant  the  party  organization, 
the  committees  and  conventions  that  attend  to  the  business 
of  the  party.  Party  conventions  meet  from  time  to  time  to 
appoint  party  committees,  to  nominate  candidates,  and  to  set 
forth  the  party  principles  and  pohcies.  These  conventions 
are  temporary;  they  come  and  go,  but  the  party  committees 
which  make  up  the  permanent,  working  part  of  the  machine  go 
on  from  year  to  year.  The  membership  of  the  committees 
may  change  from  time  to  time,  but  the  committees  themselves 
are  continuous.  The  Democratic  National  Committee  has 
been  in  existence  since  1848;  the  Republican,  since  1856. 
In  addition  to  the  national  committee  for  each  party  there 
are  also  State  committees,  congressional  district  committees, 
county  committees,  city  committees,  ward  committees,  town- 
ship committees,  etc.  —  making  a  great  network  of  committees 
throughout  the  country,  each  having  its  own  part  of  the  party 
business  to  attend  to.  This  calls  for  a  great  army  of  party 
workers,  and  these  party  workers  who  give  their  attention  to 
party  politics  are  called  the  "machine,"  or  the  organization. 
The  machine  is  the  working  force  of  the  party. 

This  party  machinery  of  conventions  and  committees 
has  been  in  operation  for  many  years,  almost  as  it  is  now. 
Let  us  notice  the  order  and  method  by  which  it  works  in  the 
process  of  president-making. 

218 


PARTIES  AND  THEIR  MACHINERY 


219 


The  National  Committee 

In  a  presidential  year,  the  first  step  in  the  process  of 
nominating  the  presidential  candidate  is  the  meeting  of  the 
National  Committee.  The  Chairman  calls  the  Committee 
to  meet  in  Washington  early  in  the  presidential  year.  The 
National  Co7nmiltee  is  made  up  of  one  member  from  each  State. 
These  members  are  appointed  at  the  previous  national  con- 
vention of  the  party,  each  State  delegation  naming  a  member 
to  serve  for  the  following  four  years.  In  some  States  it  is 
provided  that  the  party  voters  may  choose  their  party  com- 
mitteemen on  the  National  Committee  by  a  primary.  This 
is  for  the  purpose  of  making  the  Committee  more  responsible 
to  the  rank  and  file  of  the  party. 

The  National  Committee  issues  a  "Call"  for  the  conven- 
tion in  the  name  of  the  party.  This  "Call"  names  the  time 
and  place  for  the  meeting  of  the  National  Convention,  urges 
all  voters  who  believe  in  the  principles  of  the  party  to  co- 
operate in  the  selection  of  delegates  and  tells  how  and  when 
the  delegates  should  be  elected,  usually  not  sooner  than 
thirty  days  after  the  date  of  the  "Call"  nor  later  than  thirty 
days  before  the  meeting  of  the  National  Convention.  The 
credentials  of  the  delegates  must  be  forwarded  to  the  Secre- 
tary of  the  National  Committee  at  least  twenty  days  before 
the  beginning  of  the  convention. 

Until  recent  years  each  State  was  represented  in  the 
National  Convention  by  twice  as  many  delegates  as 
the  State  has  representatives  and  senators  in  Congress; 
that  is,  by  twice  as  many  as  its  electoral  vote.  Four 
delegates  at  large  were  appointed  for  each  State  and  two 
delegates  for  each  Congressional  district.  Since  the  appor- 
tionment act  of  19 II  (see  p.  272),  and  the  admission  to 
statehood  of  New  Mexico  and  Arizona,  there  have  been  435 
members  of  Congress  in  the  lower  house  and  96  Senators. 
There  would  be  on  the  old  basis,  therefore,  in  the  National 


Composition  of 
The  National 
Committee 


The  "Call "for 
the  National 
Convention 


Number  of 
Delegates 


220 


THE   CITIZEN    AND  THE   REPUBLIC 


How  the 
Method  of 
Representation 
In  the  National 
Convention 
came  about 


True  Basis  of 
Representation 


Convention  192  Senatorial  delegates,  or  delegates  at  large/ 
and  870  delegates  for  the  Congressional  districts,  or  1062 
from  all  the  States.^  The  Democratic  party  still  retains  this 
historic  basis  of  representation  in  its  national  conventions. 

This  method  of  representation  in  the  party  national  con- 
ventions came  about  in  the  beginning  of  the  convention  sys- 
tem in  Jackson's  time,  because  the  parties  wished  to  fashion 
their  party  constitution  after  that  of  the  Federal  Govern- 
ment. As  the  States  were  represented  in  Congress  for  mak- 
ing the  laws,  so,  it  was  thought,  they  should  be  represented 
in  the  convention  for  making  the  President.  Much  import- 
ance was  attached  to  the  States  in  those  days  and  the  con- 
vention was  made  on  a  federal  basis.  Until  1848  each  State 
was  allowed  only  the  same  number  of  votes  in  the  con- 
vention as  it  had  Senators  and  Representatives  in  Con- 
gress. Since  then  twice  as  many  have  been  allowed.  This 
has  resulted  in  unequal  and  unfair  representation  of  the 
party  in  its  convention.  Especially  has  this  been  true  in 
the  representation  in  the  Republican  convention  from  the 
Southern  States  where  that  party  is  very  weak.  In  all  local 
party  conventions  —  state,  district,  county,  or  city  —  the 
party  is  represented  in  proportion  to  the  number  of  party 
voters  in  the  various  communities  that  send  delegates.  In 
a  State  convention,  for  instance,  a  county  that  casts  5000 
Republican  votes  has  ten  times  as  many  delegates  as  a  county 


^  There  would  be  two  more  delegates  at  large  for  every  Congressman 
elected  at  large  in  the  State. 

2  In  addition  to  these  State  delegates,  there  are  also  six  delegates  from 
Hawaii  (as  an  organized  territory),  and  the  Republicans  allow  two  dele- 
gates each  from  the  District  of  Columbia,  Alaska,  Porto  Rico,  and  the 
Philippine  Islands,  whUe  the  Democrats  allow  six  delegates  to  each  of 
these  territories  and  possessions.  This  made  altogether,  1076  delegates 
in  the  RepubUcan  convention  until  the  change  of  iqi6  and  1092  in  the 
Democratic  convention.  There  are  elected  also  an  equal  number  of  alter- 
nates, one  for  each  delegate,  to  take  his  place  if  the  delegate  cannot 
attend.  This  makes  more  than  2100  delegates  and  alternates,  who  were 
entitled  to  admission  to  the  convention  hall. 


PARTIES  AND  THEIR   MACHINERY 


221 


that  casts  only  500  Republican  votes.  No  one  would  propose 
any  other  plan.  Equal  numbers  of  people  should  have  equal 
power  and  unequal  numbers  of  people  should  have  unequal 
power.  That  is  a  basic  principle  of  representative  republican 
government. 

For  fully  thirty  years  proposals  for  readjusting  represen- 
tation in  Republican  conventions  were  made,  but  nothing 
was  done  until  after  the  fatal  party  smash-up  in  191 2.  Now 
the  Republican  party  has  adopted  a  new  rule  for  represen- 
tation in  the  national  convention  which  was  announced  in  the 
call  for  the  Republican  National  convention  of  igi6.  This 
plan  allows  only  one  delegate  instead  of  two  from  congressional 
districts  where  the  republican  vote  in  the  last  presidental  con- 
gressional election  was  less  than  7500.  The  number  of  dele- 
gates was  reduced  by  89,  the  loss  falling  mostly  on  the  South, 
with  a  slight  increase  of  voting  power  in  the  West  (where 
women  vote)  as  compared  to  the  North  and  East. 

If  more  than  the  authorized  number  of  delegates  from 
any  State  claim  the  right  to  sit  in  the  convention,  a  contest 
is  deemed  to  exist  and  the  whole  National  Committee  meets  in 
the  convention  city  a  few  days  before  the  convention,  to  decide 
which  of  the  contesting  delegates  shall  be  allowed  to  sit  during 
the  temporary  organization  and  proceedings  of  the  convention. 
Herein  lies  the  great  power  of  the  National  Committee.  It 
may  unseat  duly  elected  delegates  and  seat  others  as  it  will. 
Instead  of  being  an  obedient  agent  of  the  national  convention, 
or  an  impartial  judicial  body  to  see  that  fair  play  and  justice 
are  done  and  that  the  interests  of  the  whole  party  are  safe- 
guarded, it  has  at  times  used  its  powers  entirely  for  one 
faction  without  regard  to  fairness,  and  thus  it  may  become  the 
directing  power  to  control  the  convention  and  determine  its 
actions  and  nominations.  Some  authority  must  make  up  a 
rightful  preliminary  roll  of  the  convention,  and  this  work  has 
always  fallen  to  the  National  Committee.  Later  the  conven- 
tion itself,  through  its  committee  on  credentials,  may  recon- 


The  New 

Republican 

Rule 

Reduction  of 

Southern 

Representation 


The  National 
Committee  and 
Contested 
Delegates 


222 


THE  CITIZEN   AND  THE   REPUBLIC 


sider  and  overrule  the  decisions  of  the  National  Committee 
and  displace  delegates  to  whom  the  National  Committee  has 
assigned  seats.  But  if  the  National  Committee  is  able  to 
make  up  a  majority  of  the  convention  in  the  first  place  it  will 
probably  be  able  to  control  the  convention  committee  on 
credentials,  and  the  "preliminary  roll"  as  determined  by  the 
National  Committee  is  not  likely  to  be  decisively  changed. 

Election  of  Delegates 

In  the  Republican  party  the  four  delegates-at-large  (the 
Senatorial  delegates)  are  elected  by  a  State  Convention;  the 
other  delegates  from  the  State  are  elected  in  district  conven- 
tions, two  from  each  district. 

In  the  Democratic  party  all  the  delegates  from  a  State  are 
elected  by  the  State  convention  and  are  regarded,  not  as  dele- 
gates from  local  districts,  but  as  delegates  of  the  State.  This 
recognizes  the  unity  and  sovereignty  of  the  State  and  is  in 
harmony  with  the  precedent  and  principle  of  the  Democratic 
party.  The  Congressional  Districts  are  recognized  by  the 
Democrats,  however,  as  convenient  divisions  for  nominating 
delegates,  but  the  State,  not  the  Congressional  district,  is  re- 
garded as  the  unit.  The  delegates  from  the  various  counties 
to  the  Democratic  State  Convention  meet  in  their  respective 
district  caucuses  the  day  before  the  meeting  of  the  State  con- 
vention, and  the  delegates  to  the  national  convention  are 
chosen  in  the  first  instance  by  these  district  caucuses,  but 
when  each  district  caucus  has  chosen  its  delegates,  the  names 
of  all  from  the  various  districts  are  reported  to  the  full  State 
convention,  which  then  confirms  their  election.  The  dele- 
gation is  then  regarded-  as  a  State  delegation  and  the  State 
convention  may  place  it  under  instructions  and  require  it 
to  act  as  a  unit. 

The  delegates  are  said  to  be  instructed  when  the  convention 
which  appointed  them  passes  a  resolution  directing  the  dele- 
gates how  they  shall  vote  on  certain  candidates  and  measures. 


PARTIES  AND  THEIR   MACHINERY  223 

In    the    Democratic    national    convention    the    instructions 

of  the  State  convention  are  binding  and  the  delegates  are 

required   to   carry   them   out;   but  the  Republican  delegates, 

while  they  are  influenced  by,  are  not  bound  to  follow  the   instructions 

instructions  of,  the  district  or  State  conventions  which  elect 

them.     Each  Republican  delegate  is  free  to  vote  as  he  will, 

though  custom  and  the  unwritten  party  law  will  likely  control 

his  conduct.     The  convention,  however,  will  record  his  vote 

as  he  casts  it. 

The  dissatisfaction  with  the  national  convention  and  the 
way  delegates  have  been  chosen  to  it  has  led  to  a  movement 
for  presidential-preferential  primaries.  This  is  the  plan  of 
providing  by  law  to  give  to  the  voters  of  the  party  an  oppor-   Presidential 

,     .  f  .  ,.  ,  Preference 

tunity  to  express  their  preterence  by  voting  directly  upon  Primaries 
presidential  candidates,  or  to  elect  by  districts  and  States 
their  party  delegates  to  the  national  convention,  the  dele- 
gates to  be  bound  to  vote  in  the  convention  for  that  candidate 
for  President  for  whom  the  delegate  announces  himself,  or 
whom  the  people  prefer,  as  shown  by  their  votes.  This  plan 
would  enable  the  party  voters  to  nominate  their  candidates 
directly  and  the  delegates  will  be  their  agents  bound  to  ratify 
their  choice,  just  as  the  presidential  electors  are  in  the  electoral 
college. 

Already  thirteen  States  ^  have  adopted  the  presidential- 
preference  primaries  by  law,  and  other  States  are  preparing 
to  do  so,  and  progressive  Democrats  and  Republicans  are 
urging  that  it  be  done  in  all  the  States.  Oregon  not  only 
elects  its  delegates  by  popular  vote,  but  provides  also  for  pay- 
ing their  railroad  fare  to  the  convention,  in  order  that  the 
delegates  may  not  be  under  obligation  to  certain  men  or  certain 
interests  for  favors. 

The  New  Jersey  preferential  primary  law  may  be  taken  to 

*  Oregon,  California,  New  Jersey,  Massachusetts,  Wisconsin,  Illinois, 
Nebraska,  North  Dakota,  South  Dakota,  Pennsylvania,  Michigan, 
Maryland,  Montana. 


224  THE  CITIZEN   AND  HIE   REPUBLIC 

illustrate  the  new  system.  This  law  provides  that  delegates 
New  Jersey  to  the  national  conventions  shall  be  selected  directly  by  the 
p^^^Law  pa-rty  voters  and  may  be  pledged  to  support  a  particular 
candidate  for  the  presidential  nomination.  At  the  same  time 
the  party  voters  may  indicate  their  preference  between  those 
candidates  whose  names  shall  have  been  placed  on  the  primary 
ballot  by  a  petition  of  looo  voters  among  their  party  friends. 
The  law  does  not  bind  the  delegates  elected  to  vote  for  the 
presidential  candidate  preferred  by  a  majority  of  the  party 
voters,  but  the  candidates  for  delegates  are  likely  to  pledge 
themselves  to  do  so.  Groups  of  candidates  for  delegates 
announce  themselves,  one  group  favoring  one  presidential 
candidate,  another  group  another  candidate.  The  delegates 
are  elected  by  Congressional  Districts,  except  the  four  for  the 
State  at  large.  It  may  happen  that  the  majority  of  the  party 
preferential  vote  in  the  whole  State  may  go  for  one  candidate, 
while  the  majority  of  the  delegates  elected  may  be  for  another. 
This  might  be  obviated  by  having  all  the  delegates  elected 
by  the  State  at  large  or  having  the  preferential  expression 
taken  only  by  districts. 

The  National  Convention 

The  elected  delegates,  accompanied  by  the  alternates, 
together  with  thousands  of  visitors  in  the  galleries,  assemble 
at  the  time  appointed  in  the  Call  in  some  "wigwam,"  or 
great  convention  hall.  The  convention  meets  to  perform 
two  great  functions  of  government:  First,  to  announce  the 
The  National  principles  on  which  it  wishes  to  appeal  to  the  people  for  sup- 
port. Second,  to  select  the  candidate  whom  it  wishes  to 
place  at  the  head  of  the  nation. 

The  leaders  of  the  party  attend  the  convention  from  all 
parts  of  the  Union,  and  the  events,  struggles,  and  conflicts  of 
these  conventions  present  some  of  the  most  interesting  and 
dramatic  aspects  of  our  history.  The  chairman  of  the  National 
Committee  calls  the  convention  to  order.     On  behalf  of  the 


u 


PARTIES  AND  THEIR   MACHINERY  225 

Committee  he  names  a  temporary  chairman,  who  will  likely 
be  accepted  without  contest.  The  temporary  chairman  makes 
a  "keynote  speech,"  in  eulogy  of  the  party,  of  its  policies, 
and  its  leaders. 

Four  important  committees  are  then  appointed,  namely, 
those  on:  (a)  Permanent  Organization,  (b)  Rules  and  Order 
of  Business,  (c)  Credentials,  (d)  Resolutions.  The  members 
of  these  committees  are  named,  not  by  the  chairman,  but 
by  the  respective  State  delegations,  one  man  on  each  com- 
mittee for  each  State.  The  convention  takes  a  recess  while 
these  committees  prepare  their  reports  to  be  made  at  later 
sessions  of  the  convention. 

The  Committee  on  Permanent  Organization  reports  a  per- 
manent president  for  the  convention,  with  a  list  of.  Vice 
Presidents,  Secretaries,  etc.  The  permanent  President,  on 
taking  the  chair,  also  makes  an  important  speech  to  the 
convention  and  to  the  country,  sounding  another  "keynote," 
that  is,  urging  another  plea  for  his  party's  success  at  the  polls. 

The  Committee  on  Rules  and  Order  of  Business  reports  in 
what  order  the  convention  shall  proceed  with  the  matters 
that  are  to  come  before  it  and  the  special  and  parliamentary 
rules  by  which  its  business  shall  be  conducted. 

The  Committee  on  Credentials  passes  upon  the  contest  for 
seats  to  determine  who  are  the  rightful  delegates.  It  may 
confirm  or  undo  the  work  of  the  national  committee  in  seating 
certain  delegates,  as  has  been  indicated,  and  since  the  report 
of  this  committee,  if  accepted  by  the  convention,  will  deter- 
mine who  has  a  right  to  sit  and  vote  in  the  convention,  its 
report  is  one  of  the  first  to  be  acted  upon. 

The  Committee  on  Resolutions  reports  the  platform  to  the 
convention.  This  is  a  set  of  resolutions,  or  an  address,  pro- 
claiming the  principles  of  the  party  and  setting  forth  the 
promises  and  policies  by  which  the  party  hopes  to  win  the  ThePiatfonn 
votes  of  the  people.  The  platform  usually  "  points  with  pride  " 
to  the  achievements  of  the  party,  "deprecates"  the  policies 


226 


THE   CITIZEN  AND  THE   REPUBLIC 


The   Candidate 


The  Two- 
thirds'  Rule 
and  the  Unit 
Rule 


of  the  opposing  party,  and  "views  with  alarm"  the  prospect  of 
its  triumph.  Sometimes  where  there  is  a  division  within  the 
party,  the  platform  makers,  Uke  adroit  or  tricky  politicians, 
seek  to  satisfy  both  sides  and  offend  neither,  consequently 
the  platform  may  be  evasive,  ambiguous,  or  two-faced,  looking 
both  ways.  The  platform  is  the  pledge  of  the  party  to  the 
people  and  it  should  be  made,  not  merely  to  catch  votes,  not 
merely  to  get  in  on,  but  to  stand  on,  and  to  carry  out  after  the 
party  is  in  power.  The  party  that  is  afraid  to  announce  its 
principles  or  that  violates  its  pledges  hardly  deserves  to  be 
again  intrusted  with  power  and  office. 

The  last  important  business  before  the  convention  is  the 
nomination  of  the  candidates.  The  roll  of  the  States  is  called, 
and  each  State  delegation  has  an  opportunity  to  place  a  name 
before  the  convention,  or  to  second  a  nomination  already 
made.  When  all  the  names  of  the  various  candidates  have 
been  brought  forward  and  the  eloquent  nominating  speeches 
are  ended,  the  balloting  begins,  and  it  continues  until  some 
candidate  has  obtained  a  sufficient  number  of  votes  to  nominate 
him,  though  the  convention  may  have  to  adjourn  or  take  a 
recess  several  times  before  a  nomination  can  be  accomplished. 
The  leading  candidates  are  called  "favorites";  those  put  for- 
ward by  particular  States  without  much  general  support  are 
"favorite  sons";  and  if  none  of  these  can  muster  enough 
votes  to  be  nominated,  a  "dark  horse"  may  be  brought  in, 
that  is,  a  man  who  has  not  been  at  all  prominently  mentioned 
or  whose  name  has  not  before  been  before  the  convention. 
Polk  was  the  first  "dark  horse"  in  our  politics  (1844),  and 
Pierce  and  Garfield  are  other  instances. 

In  the  balloting  two  rules  should  be  noticed  that  mark 
two  notable  differences  between  the  Republican  and  Demo- 
cratic conventions,  namely,  the  Two-thirds^  Rule  and  the 
Unit  Rule.  These  rules  are  used  by  the  Democrats  but  not 
by  the  Republicans. 

The    Two-thirds'   Rule  is    a   rule   that   provides   that   no 


PARTIES  AND  THEIR   MACHINERY  227 

candidates  for  President  or  Vice  President  shall  be  declared 
nominated  unless  he  shall  have  received  at  least  two  thirds  of 
all  the  votes  cast.  Thus  in  a  Republican  convention  of  1076 
delegates,  539  votes,  a  bare  majority,  will  be  enough  to  nomi- 
nate, but  in  a  Democratic  convention  which  has  1092  delegates 
it  requires  728  votes  to  nominate. 

There  is  now  much  opposition  to  the  Two-thirds'  Rule,  as 
being  contrary  to  the  fundamental  principle  of  democracy, 
that  is,  majority  rule.  It  is  objected  to  as  opening  the  way 
by  which  shrewd  political  bosses  and  managers  may,  by 
intrigue,  combinations,  and  corrupt  practices,  defeat  a  popular 
candidate  and  thwart  the  popular  will.  The  Two-thirds'  Rule, 
however,  is  sustained  by  precedent;  the  party  managers  are 
used  to  it;  and  there  is  such  a  relation  between  it  and  the 
Unit  Rule  that  it  is  difficult  to  bring  about  its  abolition. 

The  Unit  Rule  is  a  rule  which  allows  the  majority  of  a  State 
delegation  to  cast  the  entire  vote  for  the  State.  Under  it  the 
State  delegation  must  vote  as  a  unit  for  the  man  or  measure 
the  majority  favors,  if  the  State  convention  that  appointed 
the  delegates  has  instructed  them  to  do  so.  To  illustrate: 
New  York  has  90  votes  in  the  convention.  If  46  of  these 
favor  one  candidate  and  44  another,  all  of  the  90  votes  are 
counted  for  the  candidate  favored  by  the  majority.  The 
whole  vote  goes  as  the  majority  may  decide. 

If  the  State  convention  has  not  instructed  the  delegates  to 
vote  as  a  unit,  the  convention  will  recognize  the  right  of  each 
delegate  to  cast  his  individual  vote  as  he  pleases.  It  is  held 
that  the  State  should  be  supreme  and  have  the  right  to  deter- 
mine how  its  will  shall  be  expressed,  —  in  harmony  with  the 
well-known  Democratic  doctrine  of  States'  rights. 

The  Unit  Rule  is  also  applied  in  adopting  the  platform  and 
on  other  important  questions,  as  well  as  in  nominating  the 
candidate.  By  using  the  Unit  Rule  the  majority  of  the  dele- 
gates in  ten  or  twelve  of  the  largest  States  could  come  very 
near  to  controlling  the  convention,  though  many  of  their  own 


228  THE   CITIZEN   AND  THE   REPUBLIC 

delegates  from  those  States  were  opposed  to  the  candidate 
and  policy  favored  by  their  majority.  The  majority  from 
these  large  States  (being  allowed  to  cast  not  only  their  own 
votes,  but  also  the  votes  of  the  minority  opposing  them) 
would  not  need  much  help  from  other  States  to  nominate  their 
candidate.  It  is,  therefore,  thought  best  to  retain  the  Two- 
thirds'  Rule  in  order  to  prevent  a  nomination  from  being  made 
by  an  actual  minority  of  the  convention  by  shrewd  management 
and  by  the  control  of  State  conventions  under  the  Unit  Rule.' 
After  the  President  is  nominated  the  exciting  part  of  the 
contest  is  ended.  Interest  in  the  convention  seems  to  collapse. 
Little  attention  is  given  to  the  nomination  for  Vice  President. 
The  The  triumphant  faction  of  the  party  may  bring  about  the 

of'the'"^ '"''  nomination  of  a  leader  of  the  defeated  faction,  to  conciliate 
Vice  President  ^^^  ^^[^  j^g  support.  Geographical  considerations  will  have 
weight.  If  the  presidential  nomination  has  gone  to  the  east 
a  man  from  another  section  will  likely  be  put  on  the  ticket  for 
Vice  President.  The  nomination  may  have  been  bargained 
away  to  a  State  for  the  support  of  that  State's  delegation  in 
the  contest  for  the  presidency.  It  may  be  the  nomination 
will  be  hurried  or  accidental  and  a  man  may  be  named  of  whom 
most  of  the  voters  of  the  party  have  never  heard.  Several 
Presidents  have  died  in  office  and  no  man  should  be  nominated 
for  Vice  President  who  is  not  worthy  of  being  made  President, 
and  he  should  represent  the  majority  of  the  party,  in  order 
that  the  policy  favored  by  the  majority  shall  not  be  reversed 
if  the  Vice  President  should  come  into  the  Presidency. 

The   Campaign 

The  "campaign"  is  the  contest  between  the  parties  for 
success  at  the  polls.  It  occupies  the  period  from  the  nomi- 
nations to  the  election,  from  July  to  November.     Each  party 

1  Study  the  table  of  the  Electoral  College,  Appendix,  and  see  if  you  can 
work  out  a  minority  nomination  by  a  combination  of  large  States  work- 
ing under  the  unit  rule,  supposing  a  maximum  minority  of  the  large  State 
delegations  to  be  opposed  to  the  choice  of  the  majority. 


PARTIES  AND  THEIR  MACHINERY  229 

has  its  campaign  committee  (a  sub-committee  of  the  National  The  campaign 
Committee),  whose  chairman  stands  in  close  relation  to  the  °™ 
presidential  candidate  and  acts  as  his  manager.  A  special 
committee  appointed  by  the  convention  "notifies"  the  candi- 
dates, both  for  President  and  Vice  President,  of  their  nomi- 
nation, who  reply  in  speeches  and,  later,  in  "letters  of  accept- 
ance," further  defining  the  issues  of  the  campaign  and  setting 
forth  their  best  arguments  for  their  party  cause.  A  large 
public  meeting,  or  rally,  is  gotten  up  for  the  "notification 
speech,"  of  the  presidential  candidate  and  this  may  be  regarded 
as  the  "opening  gun "  of  the  campaign.  " Party  headquarters" 
are  opened  in  New  York,  Chicago,  and  other  centers,  with 
managers  in  charge,  directing  a  force  of  mailing  clerks  and 
stenographers,  and  making  arrangements  for  sending  out 
speakers  and  all  kinds  of  party  hterature,  printed  in  every 
language  known  among  the  voters.  All  the  State  committees 
are  active  and  they  send  instructions  to  the  county  committees, 
stirring  them  to  action. 

A  "campaign  textbook"  is  issued.  It  contains  the  plat- 
form of  the  party,  the  candidates'  acceptance  speeches, 
pictures    and    short   biographies    of    the    candidates,    certain    Campaign  Lit- 

^  o      i  1     r  1      erature  and 

speeches  of  the  party  leaders  m  Congress,  and  facts  and  speakers 
figures  calculated  to  support  the  party  claims.  From  the 
"campaign  textbook"  the  "spell-binders"  and  the  "cart- 
tail  orators"  draw  their  arguments  and  speeches.  These 
are  the  speakers  who  go  out  into  the  city  wards  and  county 
districts  to  make  "stump  speeches"  for  the  party. 

All  kinds  of  party  clubs  are  organized,  first  voters'  clubs, 
marching  clubs,  German  clubs,  Irish  clubs,  PoHsh  clubs, 
business  men's  clubs,  and  every  race  and  occupation  are 
called  upon  to  organize  and  work  in  behalf  of  the  party. 
Badges,  buttons,  and  banners  are  distributed;  placards  and 
posters  are  stuck  up  in  public  places;  bands,  barbecues,  and 
rallies  are  used  to  arouse  the  voters.  In  the  close  States 
every  voter  is  listed  (and  labeled  with  his  party  preference  if 


230 


THE   CITIZEN   AND  THE   REPUBLIC 


Campaign 
Funds 


Sources  of 
Campaign 
Funds 


it  can  be  learned)  in  the  poll-books  of  the  party  committees, 
in  an  effort  to  ascertain,  if  possible,  how  each  State  is  Ukely 
to  vote.  This  is  called  taking  a  party  poll,  which  is  done  two 
or  three  times  in  a  campaign.  All  this  means  an  immense 
amount  of  work  and  the  expenditure  of  large  amounts  of  money. 
The  aim  of  the  campaign  committee  in  all  this  work  is  to  unite 
the  party  and  heal  all  the  breaches,  to  recruit  new  voters,  to 
arouse  the  party  adherents  to  enthusiasm,  and  to  educate  the 
voters  on  the  party  issues  and  policies. 

To  pay  for  this  work  campaign  funds  must  be 
raised.  The  workers  must  be  paid  for  their  time  and  labor, 
though  much  of  the  work  is  voluntary  from  loyalty  to  the 
party,  while  the  State  and  local  candidates  do  a  great  deal. 
The  candidates  for  President  and  Vice  President  make  a  tour 
of  the  country,  going  by  special  train  and  striving  to  reach  all 
sections,  making  many  speeches  a  day.  The  legitimate  ex- 
penses are  heavy,  —  for  trains,  hall  rent,  music,  fireworks, 
posters,  pictures  of  the  candidates,  cartoons;  for  campaign 
agents,  paying  the  party  speakers  their  traveUng  expenses, 
and  those  of  the  party  committee  men;  for  plate  reading  matter 
for  the  country  newspapers;  employing  challengers  at  the 
polls  and  the  poll-takers  during  the  campaign;  for  carriages 
to  bring  up  the  disabled  voters;  charges  for  postage,  telegraph, 
telephone  and  expressage,  —  all  these  are  legitimate  campaign 
expenses,  though  at  times  party  managers  may  "employ" 
men  to  work  merely  as  an  indirect  way  of  buying  their  votes. 
But  much  of  the  money  is  also  used  corruptly  in  ways  the 
people  would  not  countenance  if  they  knew  of  it. 

There  are  several  sources  from  which  these  campaign  funds 
are  derived: 

1.  Voluntary  contributions  by  members  of  the  party. 

2.  Assessments  upon  the  party  candidates.  Party  commit- 
tees expect  each  candidate  to  pay  somewhat  in  proportion  to 
the  salary  of  the  office  for  which  he  is  running,  —  a  question- 
able practice  which  public  sentiment  is  now  tending  to  check. 


Presidential  Campaignixg  in  the  West 


A  Political  Far.ade 


PARTIES  AND    THEIR   MACHINERY  231 

3.  Assessments  upon  office-holders,  laid  by  the  managers 
of  the  party  in  power.  This  is  in  violation  of  the  law 
and  the  civil  service  regulations  of  the  Federal  Government 
and  can  be  practiced  only  lawlessly  and  secretly. 

4.  Private  contributions  by  rich  men  and  corporations, 
who  are  interested  in  securing  certain  laws  and  poUcies  enacted 
by  the  successful  party.  Corporations  have  been  known  to 
give  generously  to  both  party  funds  so  as  to  "stand  in  well" 
and  get  what  they  want,  whichever  party  is  successful. 
Large  campaign  funds  coming  from  hidden  sources  have  led 
to  serious  corruption  in  the  elections.  The  result  has  been 
that  public  sentiment  has  been  aroused  to  demand  publicity 
of  campaign  contributions,  in  order  that  the  people  may  know 
where  the  money  comes  from  and  how  it  is  spent,  and  Con- 
gress has  forbidden  corporations  to  contribute  at  all.  In 
1906  a  law  was  passed  in  New  York  requiring  poHtical  com- 
mittees to  file  detailed  statements  of  receipts  and  expendi- 
tures and  providing  for  judicial  investigation  to  enforce 
correct  statements. 

It  has  been  estimated  that  the  total  cost  of  a  presidential 
election  to  both  parties,  including  State  and  local  contests, 
is  at  least  $15,000,000.  Publicity  will  do  much  to  remedy 
many  of  the  evils  connected  with  campaign  practices  and  the 
use  of  money  to  control  the  elections.^ 

The  Congressional  Campaign  Committee  does  a  special  work.    ^^® 

°  '       '^  .  Congressional 

This  committee  is  entirely  separate  from  the  National  Com-  campaign 
mittee.  It  is  appointed  by  the  party  members  of  Congress, 
and  consists,  generally,  of  a  member  of  Congress  from  each 
State.  It  has  for  its  special  purpose  the  election  of  the  party 
candidates  for  Congress,  while  the  national  and  State  com- 
mittees are  trying  to  elect  the  president  and  State  tickets. 

1  See  The  Dollars  behind  the  Ballots,  World  To-day,  Vol.  xv,  p.  946 
(1908);  Woodburn's  Political  Parties  and  Party  Problems,  Chap.  XIX, 
on  "Party  Finance,"  and  the  pamphlets  of  the  National  Popular 
Government  League  on  "Effective  Publicity  and  Corrupt  Practices 
Arts." 


Committee 


232  THE   CITIZEN   AND  THE   REPUBLIC 

The  Congressional  Committee  makes  special  efforts  in  the  close 
districts,  sending  out  speakers  and  literature  in  an  effort  to 
elect  a  majority  of  the  members  of  Congress. 

The  Congressional  Committee  had  its  origin  in  1866,  when 
Congress  and  the  President  were  at  odds  with  one  another. 
The  chairman  of  the  regular  Republican  National  Committee 
and  others  of  the  organization  were  supporters  of  the  "Presi- 
dential" party.  The  "Congressional"  party  organized  a 
committee  of  Republican  Congressmen  who  were  charged 
with  the  task  of  carrying  the  election  in  a  majority  of  the 
Congressional  districts.  They  won  more  than  two  thirds  of 
the  Congressional  seats.  Since  then  both  parties  have  main- 
tained active  Congressional  Campaign  Committees. 

The  Election 

The  campaign  continues  to  the  eve  of  the  election,  which  is 
held  on  the  first  Tuesday  after  the  first  Monday  in  November. 
The  voters  vote,  not  for  the  President  and  Vice  President 
directly  —  the  names  of  these  candidates  need  not  be  upon 
the  ticket  —  but  for  a  set  of  electors  equal  in  number  to  the 
State's  Senators  and  Representatives  in  Congress.  These 
elertors  have  been  previously  nominated  for  each  party  by 
State  and  district  conventions.  The  election  in  November  is 
the  real  election,  for  the  electors  chosen  that  day  will  vote  for 
their  party  candidates.  This  they  do  when  they  meet  as  an 
Electoral  College  on  the  second  Monday  in  January  (see 
p.  238).  A  result  of  the  electoral  vote  for  each  State  is  sent 
to  Washington,  both  by  messenger  and  by  mail,  and  on  the 
second  Wednesday  in  February  the  two  houses  of  Congress 
meet  together  to  count  the  votes  and  declare  the  result.  On 
the  4th  of  March  the  President-elect  is  inaugurated. 

TOPICS   AND    QUERIES 

1.  Since  a  "machine"  is  necessary  to  parties  why  has  the  term  fallen 

into  disrepute? 

2.  How  can  the  "rank  and  file"  of  a  party  control  the  party  against 

the  efforts  of  the  "machine"? 


PARTIES  AND  THEIR   MACHINERY  233 

3.  Debate:    "Resolved  that  the  convention  system  ought  to  be  aban- 

doned and  nominations  made  by  party  primaries." 

4.  Would  it  be  better  to  retain  the  convention  and  elect  delegates  by 

a  primary  vote? 

5.  How  should  a  voter  decide  which  party  he  should  support?     Why 

do   so   many   young   voters   vote   as   their  fathers   voted?     Why 
should  they  not  do  so? 

6.  In  considering  the  support  of  a  party,  which  is  the  more  important, 

the    platform    or    the    candidate?     Why?     Are    principles    more 
important  than  men? 

7.  Debate:    "Resolved    that    more    harm    than    good    comes    from    a 

Presidential  Campaign." 

8.  Is  the  Republican  national  convention  more  democratic  than  the 

Democratic  national  convention?     Account  for  the  difference. 
REFERENCES 

Beard,  C.  A.  American  Govcrnmoil  and  Politics,  Chap.  IX,  pp.  166-186. 
"Nomination  and  Election  of  the  President."  See  also  Beard's 
Readings,  Chaps.  VI  and  VII. 

Bryce,  James.  American  Commonwealth,  Vol.  II,  pp.  21-221.  A  full 
and  illuminating  treatment  of  the  American  party  system. 

Cleveland,  F.  A.  Organized  Democracy,  Chap.  XV,  pp.  201-219. 
"Nomination  of  Candidates." 

Consult  McLaughlin  and  Hart's  Cyclopedia  of  Government  for  articles 
on  "Machines,"  "Conventions,"  "Caucus,"  "Nominations," 
"Two-thirds'  Rule,"  "Republican  party,"  "Democratic  party." 
Also  the  Reader's  Guide  to  Periodical  Literature  for  current  dis- 
cussions on  topics  relating  to  politics  and  parties. 

Fess,  Simeon  D.  Political  Theory  and  Party  Organization  in  the  United 
States.     Chiefly  historical. 

Ford,  Henry  J.    Rise  and  Groicth  of  American  Politics,  pp.  90-207. 

Fuller,  Robert  H.  Government  by  the  People.  Chap.  V,  "Nomination 
of  Candidates." 

Guitteau,  William  B.  Government  and  Politics  in  the  United  States, 
Chaps.  36  and  37,  pp.  445-473. 

Jones,  Chester  Lloyd.  Readings  on  Parties  and  Elections  in  the  United 
States.     Note  Chaps.  I,  II,  IV,  VII. 

Macy,  Jesse.  Party  Organization  and  Machinery.  An  exposition  of 
party  practice  and  organization  as  in  actual  operation. 

Ostrogorski,  M.  Democracy  and  the  Party  System.  A  philosophical 
discussion  of  the  subject. 

Ray,  P.  O.  An  Introduction  to  Political  Parties  and  Practical  Politics, 
pp.  1-246.  A  vivid  treatment  of  the  whole  subject,  with  full 
references  to  valuable  articles  in  periodical  literature. 

Woodburn,  James  A.  Political  Parties  and  Party  Problems  in  the 
United  States,  Part  II,  pp.  237-317.  A  summary  of  party  ma- 
chinery and  its  usages.     See  select  references  to  periodical  literature. 


Three 

Departments 
of  Government 


Growth  and 
Change   in  the 
President's 
Powers 


CHAPTER   XIII 
THE   PRESIDENT 

The  office  of  President  was  created  by  the  Constitution  of 
1787.  One  of  the  well-known  defects  of  the  Articles  of  Con- 
federation was  that  they  did  not  provide  for  a  suitable  executive 
power  to  see  to  the  enforcement  of  laws.  The  Convention  of 
1787  determined  to  make  the  new  government  consist  of 
three  distinct  divisions,  or  branches,  the  legislative  to  make 
the  laws,  the  judicial  to  judge  or  apply  the  laws,  and  the 
executive  to  execute  the  laws.  The  President  is  the  head 
of  the  Executive  branch,  that  is,  he  is  the  Chief  Executive, 
whose  business  it  is  to  carry  out  and  administer  the  laws  and 
public  policies  that  the  people  may  decide  upon. 

Relation  of  President  to  Congress:    Theory  of 
Separated  Powers 

It  was  expected  in  the  beginning  that  the  President  was 
to  be  merely  the  executive  agent  of  Congress.  He  was  to  be 
independent  of  Congress,  in  a  sense;  that  is,  Congress  was  not 
empowered  to  elect  him,  as  the  Prime  Minister  may  be  elected 
and  dismissed  by  the  Commons  in  England.  And  it  was 
expected  and  designed  that  the  laws  and  public  policies 
of  the  country  should  be  determined  upon  in  Congress  without 
any  interference  from  the  President  or  without  activity  or 
influence  on  his  part  in  attempting  to  lead  or  direct  Congress 
as  to  what  course  should  be  taken.  The  President  might 
suggest  legislation  to  Congress  in  his  messages  to  that  body, 
or  if  he  did  not  approve  of  bills  passed  by  Congress  he 
might  exercise  his  veto,  but  beyond  that  he  was  not  to  control 
its  action.  Each  department  of  the  government  was  to  be 
independent   of   the  other,  each  had   its  separate  duties  and 

234 


!AJI  X .« 


The  White  House,  Washington,  D.  C. 
Front  view,  showing  the  original  building. 


The  Executu'e  Offices,  4djoining  the  White  House 
This  was  added  during  President  Roosevelt's  administration. 


THE   PRESIDENT 


235 


sphere  of  action,  —  the  Legislature  was  to  attend  to  making 
the  laws,  the  Executive  to  enforcing  them. 

This  theory  of  the  "separation  of  the  powers"  of  govern- 
ment seemed  to  the  makers  of  the  constitution  to  be  vital 
and  fundamental.  Madison  held  the  principle  to  be  "essential 
to  liberty,"  and  our  fathers  wished,  above  all  things,  to  provide 
for  this  in  the  new  government  which  they  were  setting  up. 

In  actual  practice,  as  shown  by  our  history,  this  idea  of  the 
"separation  of  the  powers"  has  not  been  found  to  be  workable. 
The  President  has  come  to  be  looked  upon  as  the  representative 
of  the  people  as  much  as  are  the  members  of  Congress.  Jeffer- 
son, a  democratic  leader,  brought  his  party  into  power  with  a 
view  to  guiding  the  government  in  changing  the  policy  of  the 
country,  and  it  was  Jefferson  (with  the  people  behind  him) 
who  really  determined  what  Congress  should  do.  It  was  the 
same  way  under  Jackson,  who  was  called  "  the  tribune  of  the 
people."  His  control  was  decisive;  he  was  expected  to  lead 
Congress  or  to  light  it,  which  he  did  effectively.  The  same 
thing  was  true,  by  different  methods,  under  Washington  and 
under  Lincoln,  Cleveland,  Roosevelt,  and  Wilson.  It  has  been 
only  at  unimportant  times  and  under  weaker  Presidents  that 
the  "separation  of  powers"  has  had  full  weight  in  government 
policy  and  control. 

There  is  a  difference  of  view  as  to  the  scope  of  the  Presi- 
dent's powers.  One  view  is  that  he  may  do  anything  which 
the  Constitution  does  not  forbid.  This  would  greatly  enlarge 
his  powers.  Another  view  teaches  that  he  may  exercise  no 
power  which  the  Constitution  does  not  specifically  authorize. 
This  view  would  greatly  limit  his  powers.  The  latter  is, 
perhaps,  the  more  legal  view,  but  it  is  less  effective  in 
enabling  the  presidential  office  to  assume  leadership  and  to 
accomplish  things. '^ 

1  These  two  views  of  the  presidential  powers  have  been  represented 
in  recent  years,  to  a  large  degree,  the  first  by  President  Roosevelt,  the 
second  by  President  Taft. 


The 

Separation  of 
Powers  not 
Workable 


Two  Views  of 
the  President's 
Powers 


236 


THE  CITIZEN  AND  THE   REPUBLIC 


President  and 
Congress 
should  act 
together 


Term  of  the 
President 


The  President  is  the  national  leader.  The  President  and  the 
party  leaders  in  Congress  should  cooperate  and  work  together. 
Government  at  Washington  must  be  by  "team  work,"  as 
President  Wilson  expressed  it.  There  must  be  leadership, 
and  the  President  is  the  official  party  leader.  He  will 
take  counsel  of  many  party  chieftains  and  have  respect  for 
their  views,  and  then,  when  he  has  determined  upon  a  policy, 
his  party  in  Congress  3hould  follow  his  leadership  and  support 
his  measures.  If  they  cannot  do  so  and  a  break  occurs  between 
the  President  and  his  party  majority  in  Congress,  it  means 
a  division  or  a  split  in  the  party,  and  all  chance  for  a  har- 
monious policy  is  lost  until  a  new  Congress  or  a  new  President 
is  elected.  The  party  in  power  is  generally  thought  of  as  the 
party  in  control  of  the  presidency,  but  the  President  is  not 
"in  power"  unless  he  can  lead  or  control  Congress.  When 
Congress  and  the  President  are  "at  outs"  it  would  seem  to  be 
better  if  the  people  could  "discharge"  one  of  them  and  bring 
the  two  departments  of  the  government  into  harmony  so 
that  some  policy  may  be  carried  out  without  waiting  until  a 
term  of  office  expires. 

Term  and  Qualifications  of  the  President 

Our  Constitution  fixes  the  President's  term  of  service  at 
four  years.  As  far  as  the  letter  of  the  Constitution  goes  he  may 
be  reelected  for  as  many  terms  as  the  people  see  fit  to  choose 
him.  Ten  of  the  Presidents  have  been  elected  for  two  terms, 
but  so  far  no  President  has  been  elected  for  a  third  term,  and 
it  is  now  held  by  some  that  custom  has  fixed  it  as  a  "law  of 
the  unwritten  constitution"  that  no  one  shall  be  President 
for  three  terms. 

It  was  proposed  in  the  convention  of  1787  to  make  the 
President's  term  seven  years  and  not  allow  him  to  be  reelected, 
and  for  over  a  hundred  years  the  proposal  has  been  repeatedly 
made,  in  Congress  and  party  conventions,  that  the  Presi- 
dent should  be  allowed  only  one  term.     Prominent  men  like 


THE   PRESIDENT 


237 


ex-President  Taft  and  Mr.  W.  J.  Bryan  urged  a  constitu- 
tional amendment  extending  the  presidential  term  to  six  or 
seven  years  and  not  permitting  a  reelection.  This  is  urged 
on  the  ground  that  presidential  elections  are  too  frequent, 
that  they  are  too  serious  a  disturbance  to  "business,"  that  the 
President  ought  to  have  a  longer  term  in  order  to  enable  him 
to  carry  through  a  continuous  policy,  and  that  if  the  President 
were  not  eligible  to  a  second  term  he  would  not  be  tempted 
to  use  the  power  and  patronage  of  his  office  to  secure  a  re- 
election; it  is  claimed  that  the  President's  thought  and  time 
are  occupied  during  his  first  term  in  considering  not  how 
he  may  make  a  good  President,  but  how  he  may  secure 
a  second  nomination,  and  that  consequently  he  must  do, 
not  what  the  nation  needs,  but  what  the  political  managers 
require.  However,  the  people  have  never  been  very  seriously 
intent  on  limiting  their  power  to  reelect  their  President  if 
they  see  fit. 

The  Constitution  requires  that  the  President  shall  be  "a 
natural  born  citizen  of  the  United   States,"  and  shall  have 
been  for  "fourteen  years  a  resident  within  the  United  States,"    Qualifications 
and  that  he  shall  "  have  attained  to  the  age  of  thirty-five  years."    President 
The  same  qualifications  hold  in  the  case  of  the  Vice  President. 


Method  of  Electing  the  President 

It  was  very  difficult  for  the  convention  of  1787  to  agree 
upon  a  plan  of  electing  the  President.  Various  plans  were 
proposed,  but  the  convention  finally  decided  to  refer  the 
choice  of  the  President  to  a  body  of  "electors"  to  be  chosen 
in  each  State  in  such  manner  as  the  legislature  of  the  State  How  the 
might  direct,  each  State  to  have  as  many  electors  as  it  has  chosen 
senators  and  representatives  in  Congress. 

In  early  days  they  were,  in  some  States,  elected  by  the 
legislatures,  in  some  by  the  people  in  congressional  districts, 
in  some  by  the  people  in  the  State  at  large.  Now  they  are 
elected  in  each  State  on  a  common  ticket,  all  candidates  for 


238  THE   CITIZEN   AND  THE   REPUBLIC 

electors  on  each  party  ticket  in  each  State  being  voted  for 
directly  by  the  voters,  generally  under  manhood  suffrage.^ 
Congress  has  fixed  upon  the  first  Tuesday  after  the  first  Mon- 
day in  November  every  fourth  year  as  the  time  for  choosing 
the  electors  in  the  various  states.  The  election  held  on  this 
day  is  popularly  called  the  presidential  election,  as  it  is  in 
effect.  The  voter,  when  he  casts  his  ballot,  is  in  reahty 
voting  directly  for  the  presidential  candidate  whose  name  is 
placed  at  the  top  of  the  ticket,  and  only  incidentally  does  he 
vote  for  electors.  The  results  are  usually  known  by  the 
following  day. 

The  electors  from  all    the    States  make  up   the  Electoral 
College.     The  electors  do  not  all  meet   together  to  vote  for 
The  Electoral      the  President  but  meet  in  their  respective  State  capitals  on 
College  ^\^Q    second    Monday    in    January    following    a    presidential 

election  and  vote  for  President  and  Vice  President  sepa- 
rately. Three  certificates  of  the  result  of  the  vote  are 
then  prepared,  giving  the  names  of  all  persons  voted  for 
as  President  and  Vice  President,  respectively,  and  the 
number  of  votes  for  each.  One  of  these  certificates  is  de- 
posited with  the  United  States  District  Court,  a  second 
mailed  to  the  President  of  the  Senate,  and  a  third  is  sent 
to  him  by  a  special  messenger  (generally  one  of  the  electors). 
On  the  second  Wednesday  in  February  the  Senate  and  House 
meet  in  joint  session,  the  President  of  the  Senate  opens  the 
certificates  and  the  count  is  begun. 

The  election  is  virtually  by  states,  as  each  state  casts  the 
whole  number  of  its  electoral  votes  for  the  candidate  having 
the  majority  in  the  state.  The  candidates  for  President 
and  Vice  President  having  the  vote  of  a  majority  of  all  the 
electors  are  declared  elected.  Except  in  the  case  of  disputed 
returns  the  count  is  a  mere  form,  since  the  result  is  ordi- 
narily known  three  months  before. 

In  case  no  candidate  has  a  majority  of  all  electoral  votes 
^  For  suffrage  qualifications,  see  p.  10. 


BY  TKF.  PRS?IDEIiT   OF  THE  UNITED   STATKE   OF  AMERICA 
A  PRCCLAl'ATIOi; 


7/HEREAS  public   interestn   require  that   the   Congross   of   the 
United  States   should  be  convened   in  extra  BQBsior.  et   tv;alve  o'clock, 
noon,    on  the   sacor.d  day   of  April,    1917.    tc   receive  a  coinr.unication 
concerning  grave  matterB   of   national   policy   wnich  should   be  taken 
imnediately  under   conBideration; 

r;ow,   Therefore,    I,   WCODROW  WILSOt:,    President    of  the  United  States 
of   America,    do   hereby   proclai;r,  and   declare  that    an   extraordinary   occa- 
sion  requires  the  concress  of  the  united  States  to  convene   in  extra 
session  at   the  Capitol   in  the  City   of  Washintton   on  the   seconu   day   of 
April,    1917,    at   twelve   o'clock,    noon,    of  which   all   persons  who   shall 
at  that  tioe  be   entitled  to  act   as  irenbers  thereof  are  hereby  required 
to  take  notice. 

\  Given   under  my   hand   and   the 

seal   of  the  United  States   of 


>^   '  '  ' 


\ 


)  Amarica  the  twenty-first   day   of 

/     Varch  in  the  year  of  our  Lord   one 
»   thousand  nine   hundred   and   seven- 
\teen,    and  of  the   Independence   of 
the  United  States  the   one   hundred 
and  forty-first. 


^ 


A  Presidential  Proclamation 


THE   PRESIDENT  239 

cast  for  President,  the  House  of  Representatives,  voting  by 
states,  chooses  a  President  from  the  three  presidential  candi- 
dates who  have  the  largest  number  of  electoral  votes.  If  no 
one  is  elected  Vice  President,  the  Senate  selects  for  that  ofl&ce 
one  of  the  two  vice  presidential  candidates  who  stood  highest. 
The  inauguration  of  the  President  and  Vice  President 
occurs  on  the  fourth  of  March  following   the   election. 

Advantages  and  Disadvantages  of  the  Present  Electoral 
System 

It  was  expected  that  these  electors,  composed  of  picked  men 
wiser  than  the  people,  would  know  the  quahties  of  public 
men  and  what  kind  of  a  man  was  required  for  the  Presidency. 
The   idea  was  that  the  electors    meeting  in  their  respective 
capitals  would  there  deliberate  and  after  discussing  the  relative    How  the 
merits  of  candidates  they  would  then  exercise  their  best  judg-    scheme  has 
ments  and  cast  their  votes  for  the  man  they  deemed  best  fitted    broken  down 
for  the  office.     We  know  now  that  this  is  not  the  way  the 
electoral  system  works.     So  again  the  Constitution  is  one  thing 
written  but  another  thing  unwritten;    that  is,  in  theory  it  is 
one  thing,  in  custom  or  actual  practice,  another. 

The  written  plan  soon  broke  down  when  men,  organized  in 
parties,  attempted  to  work  it.  As  soon  as  parties  were  or- 
ganized and  began  to  put  out  candidates  for  the  presidency, 
the  electors  were  no  longer  independent  and  free  to  vote  for 
whom  they  pleased,  but  they  were  chosen  under  a  pledge  of 
honor  to  vote  for  a  particular  party  candidate.  They  have 
become  mere  party  agents  without  any  discretion  or  choice  as 
to  what  they  shall  do.  When  they  meet  to  vote  the  people 
have  already  chosen  the  President  and  everybody  knows  who 
is  elected.  Little  or  no  attention  is  paid  to  the  voting  of  the 
electors.  They  must  vote  as  they  are  elected  and  pledged 
to  vote,  and  it  is  understood  that  they  will,  as  a  matter  of 
course,  merely  ratify  the  election  already  made. 


240  THE  CITIZEN   AND  THE   REPUBLIC 

Under  the  present  ])lan  each  State  gives  all  its  Presiden- 
tial electors  to  that  ])arty  which  wins  the  popular  election 
in  the  State,  no  matter  how  small  the  majority  may  be. 
When  a  State  elects  its  members  of  Congress  it  seldom  hap- 
pens that  one  party  carries  all  the  districts.  The  vote  of 
the  State  in  Congress  is  divided  between  Republicans  and 
Democrats.  If  electors  were  elected  by  the  district  plan, 
one  for  each  district  and  the  two  senatorial  electors  for  the 
State  at  large,  the  electoral  vote  of  the  State  would  nearly 
always  be  divided.  The  electoral  vote  would  then  more 
nearly  represent  the  popular  vote. 

The  present  plan  of  voting  preserves  the  solidarity  of  the 
State  and  makes  it  count  more  in  the  contest.  By  enabling 
it  to  throw  its  whole  weight  into  one  side  of  the  scale  the 
importance  of  the  State  is  emphasized.  The  plan  is  not  so 
democratic  but  more  federal  providing  for  election  by  States, 
which  is  in  harmony  with  the  original  federal  idea  that  the 
States  should  be  the  agencies  for  electing  the  President,  though 
partly  on  a  proportional  basis. 

But  experience  has  shown  that  this  plan  concentrates  the 
political  struggle  in  the  doubtful  States  and  especially  in  the 
large  doubtful  States,  like  New  York  and  Indiana,  while  in 
other  States  where  either  party  has  a  safe  majority  the  presi- 
dential campaign  is  listless  and  lifeless  and  without  interest. 
The  consequence  is  that  the  voters  in  important  doubtful 
States  have  been  subjected  to  much  political  corruption. 
If  some  proportional  plan  were  adopted  by  which  the  electoral 
vote  of  a  State  were  divided  between  the  parties  in  proportion 
to  the  popular  vote  cast  for  each,  then  every  vote  would  count 
in  every  State,  and  the  Republicans  would  try  harder  in  Texas 
in  the  hope  of  obtaining  at  least  a  few  electoral  votes,  while 
the  Democrats  for  the  same  reason  would  try  harder  in  Iowa 
or  Michigan. 

Another  objection  to  the  present  electoral  system  is  that  the 
party  managers  merely  maneuver  to  carry  enough  States  to 


THE  PRESIDENT 


241 


give  them  a  majority  of  the  electoral  vote,  while  the  popular 
vote  in  the  whole  country  may  be  against  them.  It  is  not  a 
democratic  system.  It  has  repeatedly  occurred  that  a  party 
candidate  has  received  a  majority  of  the  electoral  votes  while 
the  majority  of  the  people  have  voted  against  him.  In  i860 
Lincoln  had  only  about  40  per  cent  of  the  popular  vote; 
in  1876  Tilden  had  a  popular  plurality  over  Hayes,  though 
Hayes  was  elected,  while  in  1SS8  Cleveland  had  98,000  popular 
plurality  over  Harrison  but  Harrison  got  sixty-five  more 
votes  than  Cleveland  in  the  Electoral  College. 

It  has  been  urged  that  the  Electoral  College  should  be 
abolished  and  a  more  popular  democratic  plan  should  be 
adopted  for  electing  the  President.  It  has  been  proposed 
that  he  should  be  elected  by  a  direct  popular  vote  of  the 
whole  country,  just  as  the  senators  and  representatives  are 
now  elected  in  the  States.  This  would  be  a  very  nationalizing 
change,  the  people  becoming  a  consolidated  mass  for  the 
purpose  of  electing  the  President  regardless  of  State  lines. 

The  district  plan  might  be  resorted  to  if  it  were  not  for  the 
danger  that  party  managers  would  be  still  further  tempted 
to  "gerrymander"  the  congressional  districts.^ 


Should  the 
Electoral 
College  be 
abolished? 


Powers  and  Duties  of  the  President 
There  are  several  powers  and  duties  assigned  to  the  President: 
I.  Purely  Executive.  These  include  his  power  and  duty  to 
"take  care  that  all  laws  be  faithfully  executed,"  to  ap- 
point subordinate  executive  officers  for  this  purpose,  and  to  see 
that  the  executive  departments  are  efficiently  administered. 
These  are  his  general  executive  powers. 

^  See  p.  273.  Also  President  Hafrison's  message  of  December,  1892, 
Richardson's  President's  Messages,  Vol.  IX,  p.  208.  On  the  subject 
of  Proportional  Representation  see  Professor  J.  R.  Commons'  book  on 
that  subject.  Also  John  G.  Carlisle  in  the  Forum  No.  24,  p.  651,  on 
"Remedy  for  Dangerous  Defects  in  the  Election  of  the  President,"  and 
"  Our  Bungling  Electoral  System,"  by  J.  C.  Allen  in  American  Political 
Science  Quarterly,  November,  191 7. 


Classification 
of    Presidential 
Powers 


242  THE  CITIZEN  AND  THE  REPUBLIC 

2.  Diplomatic.  Under  this  head  come  the  President's 
powers  (i)  to  make  treaties  with  the  advice  and  consent  of  the 
senate  and  (2)  to  appoint  ambassadors  and  consuls  to  foreign 
countries  and  to  receive  similar  representatives  from  abroad. 
The  President  and  his  Secretary  of  State  are  held  responsible 
for  the  conduct  of  foreign  relations  and  the  diplomacy  of  the 
country.  In  receiving  a  foreign  ambassador  at  the  White 
House  1  the  President  recognizes  the  ambassador  as  well  as 
his  country,  the  ambassador  coming  as  the  official  spokesman 
of  that  country.  The  countries  communicate  through  their 
ministers.  The  President  may  refuse  to  receive  a  minister, 
and  this  he  will  do  if  he  does  not  wish  to  recognize  the  inde- 
pendence of  the  country  concerned  or  the  government  which 
claims  to  be  established  there.  He  may  also  (by  his  Secretary 
of  State)  ask  a  foreign  government  to  recall  its  minister  or  he 
may  dismiss  a  minister  for  speech  or  conduct  offensive  to  our 
government. 

3.  Advisory.  The  President  may  recommend  measures  to 
Congress  and  inform  that  body  on  the  "state  of  the  Union" 
or  on  any  public  need.  This  he  does  by  his  regular  annual 
messages  to  Congress,  and  by  such  special  messages  as  he  may 
see  fit  to  send  in  from  time  to  time.  These  messages  are  also 
intended  as  a  means  of  informing  and  persuading  the  nation. 
The  President's  messages  are  printed  and  circulated  freely. 

4.  Legislative.  The  President  is  a  part  of  the  law-making 
power.  The  treaties  which  he  helps  to  make  are  the  "supreme 
law  of  the  land."  He  can  convene  Congress  in  extraordinary 
session,  and  by  the  veto  power  he  may  prevent  legislation  by 
less  than  two-thirds  majority  in  each  house  of  Congress.  This 
gives  to  the  President  a  very  great  negative  power  in  preventing 
legislation. 

5.  Military.  The  President  is  the  commander-in-chief 
of  the  army  and  navy  and  of  the  militia  of  the  several  States 
when  called  into  the  service  of  the  United  States.     The  Presi- 

1  The  ambassador  is  introduced  by  our  Secretary  of  State. 


THE   PRESIDENT 


243 


dent  is  authorized  by  law  ^  to  call  forth  the  militia  of  the 
State  in  order  to  suppress  insurrection  or  repel  invasion  and 
the  President  is  to  be  the  judge  as  to  when  the  emergency 
exists.  The  nation  through  the  President  controls  the  State 
militia,  though  the  States  may  train  the  militia  and  appoint 
its  officers. 

6.  Judicial.  The  President  may  not  be  said  to  exercise 
judicial  power,  but  he  exercises  power  over  the  Judiciary. 
His  ideas  and  purposes  count  for  a  good  deal  in  our  national 
judicial  system.  He  has  the  power  to  appoint  the  Judges 
of  the  Supreme  Court  and  of  the  inferior  Federal  courts,  and 
in  this  way  he  may  exercise  a  great  deal  of  influence  over  the 
tendency  of  judicial  decisions. 

By  studying  these  six  classes  of  powers  it  will  be  seen  that 
many  of  the  President's  acts  will  fall  into  more  than  one  of  the 
classes  named.  They  cannot  be  sharply  separated  or  defined. 
To  illustrate,  when  the  President  makes  a  treaty  he  exercises 
not  only  diplomatic  power  but  legislative  power,  and  when 
he  appoints  a  judge  he  performs  a  purely  executive  act  with  a 
judicial  bearing.  Some  of  these  powers  of  the  President  are 
of  such  importance  as  to  call  for  special  discussion. 


T/ie  Veto  Power  of  the  President  ^ 

Every  bill  or  resolution  of  Congress,  before  it  can  become 
a  law,  must  be  submitted  to  the  President  for  his  approval. 
He  is  given  ten  days  in  which  to  consider  it.     If  he  approves   The  President's 

f'  -'  ,      ^  Power  over 

the  measure  he  may  sign  it,  or  (although  disapproving  some  Legislation 
features  of  it)  he  may  allow  it  to  become  a  law  after  ten  days 
vdthout  his  signature,  as  the  Constitution  provides.  A 
President  may  be  so  displeased  with  a  bill  as  not  to  wish  to 
put  his  name  to  it  and  yet  not  be  wilhng  to  take  the  respon- 
sibihty  of  defeating  it  by  a  veto.  President  Cleveland  did  this 
in  1894  with  the  Wilson- Gorman  tariff  act.      He  denounced 

1  Act  of  February  28,  1795. 


244  THE  CITIZEN   AND  THE   REPUBLIC 

as  "party  perfidy"  ihc  changes  made  in  the  act  by  certain 
senators,  and  he  allowed  the  measure  to  become  a  law  with- 
out his  signature. 

If  the  President  disapproves  of  the  measure  he  may  veto  it 
or  forbid  it  to  become  a  law  by  returning  the  measure  to  the 
house  in  which  it  originated,  giving  in  writing  the  reasons 
for  his  veto.  Congress  may  then  reconsider  the  bill  and  if 
passed  by  a  two-thirds'  vote  in  each  house  it  becomes  a  law. 

If  Congress  adjourns  within  ten  days  after  sending  a  bill 
to  the  President  (Sundays  excepted),  he  may  withhold  his 
signature  and  kill  the  bill  entirely  without  giving  his  reasons 
to  Congress.  This  is  called  a  pocket  veto,  as  the  President 
is  said  to  "put  the  bill  in  his  pocket"  without  giving  it 
further  public  notice.  A  "pocket  veto"  is  an  absolute  veto, 
as  Congress  has  no  chance  to  reconsider  and  again  pass  the 
bill.  After  a  "pocket  veto "  the  only  way  to  enact  the  measure 
into  a  law  is  to  start  a  new  bill  in  a  later  session  of  Congress, 
which  the  President  may  again  have  a  chance  to  veto. 

The  early  Presidents  used  the  veto  very  little.     Washington 

vetoed  only  two  bills,  and  John  Adams,  JefiFerson,  and  John 

Quincy  Adams  none  at  all.     From  Washington  to  Jackson 

Early  Use  of       Qj^]y  geven  or  eight  bills  were  vetoed.     Jackson  marked  an 

the  Veto  ,     .        ,  r     ,  a  i         i  i-       t^        •  i 

epoch  in  the  use  of  the  veto.  As  a  rule,  the  earlier  Presidents 
thought  the  veto  power  was  given  merely  to  protect  the  Con- 
stitution from  violation  and  to  prevent  legislative  encroach- 
ments on  the  office  of  President,  to  safeguard  his  own  powers 
and  independence.  The  early  Presidents  acted  on  this  theory, 
but  Jackson  used  the  veto  to  defeat  measures  of  which  he  did 
not  approve,  regardless  of  their  constitutionality.  If  a  measure 
appeared  to  him  unwise  and  inexpedient  he  thought  he  should 
use  his  veto  power  to  defeat  it.  As  the  "  tribune  of  the  people" 
he  held  that  the  President  should  share  with  Congress  the 
responsibility  for  legislation. 

This  use  of  the  veto,  together  with  the  removal  policy  of 
Jackson  (see  p.  254),  greatly  increased  the  power  of  the  Presi- 


THE   PRESIDENT 


245 


dent,  and  Jackson's  opponents,  led  by  Clay  and  Webster,    The  Veto 
denounced  his  "usurpation"  and  called  him  "King  Andrew."    pr"s^en^t's° 
It  became  a  principle  of  the  Whig  party  to  oppose  this  larger   Power 
veto  power.     Clay  proposed,  in  view  of  what  he  considered 
so  much  and  such  a  dangerous  power  in  the  hands  of  one  man, 
that  the  Constitution  be  changed  so  as  to  allow  a  bare  majority 
of  Congress  to  overcome  the  veto.     The  Whigs  asserted  that 
the  will  of  the  people  should  be  uncontrolled  by  the  will  of 
one  man. 

But  Jackson's  idea  and  use  of  the  veto  have  prevailed  under 
later  Presidents  of  all  parties.  The  President  is  looked  upon 
as  the  representative  of  the .  people,  and  they  expect  him 
to  exercise  his  independent  judgment  on  every  bill,  holding 
him  responsible  for  the  bad  effect  of  legislation  which  he 
might  have  prevented.  It  is  considered  to  be  not  only  the 
President's  right  but  his  duty  to  veto  bills  which  he 
thinks  are  unconstitutional  or  which  he  thinks  may  be 
inexpedient,  or  injurious  to  the  welfare  of  the  country.  This 
has  made  the  veto  a  real  power.  ^  It  does,  indeed,  put  upon 
the  President  great  responsibiUty.  In  preventing  legislation  The  Veto  a 
it  makes  him  equal  in  power  to  thirty-one  senators  and  one  America 
hundred  and  forty-four  members  of  the  House.  -  This  is  one 
of  the  powers  that  tend  to  magnify  the  President's  office  and 
make  him  the  leader  of  the  people  and  the  head  of  the  nation. 
He  is  expected  to  guide  the  country  and  to  save  it  from 
error  and  danger,  and  it  should  impress  the  people  with  the 
fact  that  no  second  rate  or  unsafe  man  should  be  entrusted 
with  the  great  duties  of  the  President's  office. 

1  In  England  the  theory  of  the  veto  is  the  same  as  in  America,  but  the 
King,  to  whom  this  power  is  given  by  the  letter  of  the  law,  never  uses 
it.  It  is  his  bounden  duty,  by  unwritten  custom,  to  give  his  assent  to 
every  measure  which  passes  Parliament,  no  matter  how  much  he  may 
personally  disapprove  of  its  provisions.  This  illustrates  how  our 
written  constitution  tends  "  to  cleave  to  the  letter  of  the  law  "  while 
the  English  unwritten,  or  flexible,  constitution  tends  "to  depart  from  the 
letter  of  the  law."     See  Bryce,  American  Commonwealth,  vol.  I,  p.  60. 

*  One  less  than  a  third. 


are  Made 


246  THE  CITIZEN  AND  THE  REPUBLIC 

Treaty-making  Power 

The  President  has  the  power,  "by  and  with  the  advice  and 
consent  of  the  senate,  to  make  treaties,  provided  two  thirds  of 
the  senators  present  concur."  ^    This  is  closely  connected  with 
How  Treaties      j^jg  powcr  to  appoint  ambassadors  and  consuls.     The  President 
""  '"'"''"  does  not,  as  a  rule,  conduct  the  foreign  negotiations  directly, 

but  he  does  it  through  his  ambassadors  or  his  Secretary  of 
State,  who  is  his  minister  for  foreign  affairs.  He  may  instruct 
or  direct  these  officers  as  to  what  they  shall  do,  or  agree  to, 
or  he  may  recall  and  remove  them.  A  treaty  is  made  under 
their  direction  by  its  being  agreed  to  between  the  Secretary 
of  State  or  our  ambassador  abroad  and  the  representative  of 
the  other  contracting  nation;  and  then  the  President,  if  the 
terms  of  the  treaty  suit  him,  submits  it  for  the  senate's 
approval.  If  the  senate  consents,  the  treaty  becomes  the  law 
of  the  land.  If  the  treaty  does  not  suit  the  President  after 
it  is  drawn  up,  he  may  refuse  to  submit  it  to  the  senate,  as 
Jefferson  did  in  1806  in  the  case  of  the  Monroe-Pinkney 
treaty. 

The  senate's  "advice  and  consent"  is  not  Hmited  merely 
to  saying  Yes  or  No  to  a  treaty  after  it  is  completed.  The 
senate  may  advise  the  President  to  begin  a  treaty,  or  it  may 
modify  or  amend  a  treaty  while  it  is  pending  before  that  body. 
The  initiative,  however,  in  treaty-making  generally  rests 
with  the  President,  and  he  is  not  bound  to  take  the  senate 
into  his  confidence  during  the  process  of  a  negotiation,  though 
he  may  ask  the  advice  of  the  senate  while  the  treaty  is  in  the 
making.  So  the  senate  may  be  said  to  be  almost  coordinate 
with  the  President  in  treaty-making. 

1  "Two  thirds  of  the  Senators  present"  may  be  a  minority  of  the 
whole  Senate;  it  may  be  only  two-thirds  of  the  quorum,  a  quorum  being 
a  majority  of  the  whole  Senate.  It  appears  that  if  only  a  bare  quorum 
of  the  Senate  were  present  the  votes  of  thirty-four  Senators  might 
confirm  a  treaty,  or  the  votes  of  eighteen  Senators  might  reject  one. 


THE   PRESIDENT 


247 


This  important  power  in  treaty-making  was  given  to  the 
Senate  because  when  the  Constitution  was  made  the  States 
were  particularly  interested  in  foreign  relations  and  they 
looked  upon  the  government  of  the  United  States  at  the  time 
as  being  chiefly  a  government  for  foreign  affairs.  The  Senate 
was  the  body  in  which  the  States  were  especially  represented, 
and  the  States,  as  such,  did  not  wish  to  allow  our  foreign 
relations  to  pass  beyond  their  control. 

In  our  relations  with  foreign  countries  it  is  desirable  that 
the  nation  should  be  united,  if  possible,  regardless  of  party. 
Since  the  senate  can  block  negotiations  while  they  are  in 
progress  or  defeat  a  treaty  after  it  is  made,  the  President  will 
naturally  desire  the  favor  and  cooperation  of  the  senatorial 
majority  and  especially  of  the  senate's  committee  on  foreign 
relations,  whose  chairman  is  always  an  important  factor  in 
the  conduct  of  our  foreign  relations.  The  President  will, 
while  conducting  important  negotiations,  seek  to  know  the 
mind  of  the  senate  and  to  act  in  harmony  with  the  leaders  of 
both  poHtical  parties,  especially  in  times  of  a  foreign  crisis. 
The  leaders  and  members  of  the  opposition  party  are  generally 
ready  to  support  the  President  on  an  issue  between  a  foreign 
country  and  our  own.  ^ 

The  House  is  not  considered  to  have  a  part  of  the  treaty-mak- 
ing power.      When  a  treaty  is  made  the  House  is  expected  to 
provide  for  carrying  it  out.     But  if  money  is  required  or  if  the 
treaty  involves  a  pubhc  policy  to  which  the  House  is  opposed    ^j^J^^^g^^J^ 
or  which  is  confided  by  the  constitution  to  the  whole  body  of    in  xreaty- 
Congress,  the  House  has  always  asserted  its  right  to  defeat   making 
a  treaty  by  refusing  the  money  necessary  to  make  it  effective. 
Thus,  when  an  act  of  legislation  is  necessary  to  carry  out  a 
treaty,  the  House  does  not  regard  the  refusal  to  pass  such  an 

1  There  is  a  familiar  maxim,  offered  as  a  toast  by  Commodore  Decatur 
in  1816,  "Our  country,  in  her  intercourse  with  foreign  nations  may  she  ever 
be  right,  but  our  country,  right  or  wrong."  This  may  be  debatable  from 
a  moral  point  of  view.  It  has  been  changed  to,  ''  My  country,  if  she 
is  right  may  we  keep  her  right,  if  wrong,  may  we  set  her  right." 


248  THE  CITIZEN   AND  THE   REPUBLIC 

act  as  a  violation  of  the  treaty,  but  it  contends  that  as  a  co- 
ordinate branch  of  Congress  it  is  competent  to  decide  whether 
it  will  allow  the  treaty  to  fail  or  to  be  operative,  and  that  it 
may  thus  prevent  "the  absorption  of  legislative  powers  by 
the  treaty-making  organ."  The  House  contention  is  that  the 
President  and  senate  shall  not  be  allowed  by  treaty-made 
law  to  leave  the  House  out  in  regulating  commerce  or  in  doing 
other  things  by  mere  treaty-law  in  matters  in  which  the  powers 
of  the  House  are  by  the  Constitution  made  equal  to  those  of 
the  senate.  ^ 

TJie  War  Powers  of  the  President 

The  war  powers  of  the  President  come  to  him  from  the 
fact  that  he  is  commander  in  chief  of  the  Army  and  Navy  of 
The  the  United  States  and  because  he  is  charged  with  the  faithful 

Power ^'!>  bring    cxecution  of  the  laws.      The  President  may  not  declare  war; 
on  a  War  ^hat  power  belongs  to  Congress.     But  in  times  of  crisis  with 

a  foreign  country  he  may  so  act  as  to  force  Congress  into 
war.  President  Polk  in  1846  ordered  General  Taylor  to 
occupy  disputed  territory.  This  brought  on  war  and  Con- 
gress merely  recognized  that  war  existed  "by  the  act  of  the 
Republic  of  Mexico."  When  war  comes  the  President,  as 
commander  in  chief,  must  have  the  right  to  exercise  all  the 
powers  recognized  by  the  laws  and  usages  of  war.  War  is 
executive  business.  It  requires  quick  decision,  energetic 
action,  unity  of  responsibility  and  control.  It  cannot  be 
carried  on  by  a  congress,  or  council,  prone  to  disagreement, 
argument,  and  debate. 

In  war  the  President  falls  but  little  short  of  being  a  dicta- 
tor. No  man  has  yet  defined  his  war  powers  or  placed  a  limit 
on  them.  It  has  been  said  that  in  our  Civil  War  President 
Lincoln  exercised    more   personal    power  than    any  English- 

^  This  subject  was  discussed  fully  in  connection  with  Jay's  treaty 
and  the  Alaska  treaty.  See  Woodburn's  American  Republic,  pp. 
159-164.  See  Edwin  S.  Corwin's  "The  President's  Control  of  Foreign 
Relations"  (Princeton  Press). 


The  War  Pow- 
ers of  the 


THE   PRESIDENT  249 

speaking  ruler  since  Oliver  Cromwell.  When  military  law 
succeeds  civil  law  the  President  becomes  absolute.  He  is  re- 
strained only  by  the  laws  and  usages  of  civilized  warfare.  In 
1 86 1,  without  waiting  for  Congress  to  meet,  President  President 
Lincoln  called  for  75,000  volunteers,  proclaimed  a  blockade  of 
the  Southern  ports,  increased  the  size  of  the  regular  army, 
suspended  the  writ  of  habaes  corpus  in  spite  of  the  protest  of 
Chief  Justice  Taney  (see  p.  251),  and  later  in  the  war  he 
appointed  and  removed  generals,  directed  the  movements  of 
fleets  and  armies,  executed  or  pardoned  criminals,  arrested 
and  imprisoned  men  without  trial,  and,  finally,  exercised  the 
great  power  (which  existed  only  in  war)  of  declaring  free 
by  his  famous  emancipation  proclamation  all  the  slaves 
in  the  insurrectionary  States.  These  acts,  even  if  not  after- 
wards recognized  as  lawful  by  Congress  or  the  courts,  were 
effective  just  the  same. 

Congress  either  confides  extraordinary  war  powers  to  the 
President  beforehand  or  confirms  such  powers  after  their  ex- 
ercise. In  the  World  War  President  Wilson  was  given 
power  to  control  transportation  and  foreign  trade;  to  deter- 
mine the  price  of  food  and  fuel  and  other  necessaries;  to 
decide  what  grain,  if  any,  might  be  distilled  into  liquors;  to 
fix  the  price  of  steel  and  iron  and  iron  ore,  and  of  supplies 
and  munitions  bought  in  America  for  our  Allies;  to  comman- 
deer mines  and  railways,  ships  and  shipyards,  and  to  regulate 
the  method  of  production,  sale,  shipment,  apportionment  and 
storage  of  all  products  necessary  for  the  conduct  of  the  war 
and  the  life  of  the  people.  This  vast  war  power  in  the  hands 
of  one  man  may  be  a  dangerous  thing.  All  power  may  be 
abused  if  placed  in  unworthy  hands.  The  only  safeguard  of 
the  nation  in  such  a  crisis  is  the  character  of  the  man  who 
fills  the  presidential  office.  Fortunate  for  America  that,  when 
the  necessity  has  come,  these  war  powers  have  fallen  into  the 
hands  of  patriot  Presidents  who  have  been  devoted  to  liberty, 
democracy,  and  the  rights  and  interests  of  the  people. 


250  THE   CITIZEN   AND  THE   REPUBLIC 

Our  Presidents  have  been  the  products  of  American  Ufe 
and  principles.  If  a  Napoleon  instead  of  a  Lincoln  had 
been  President  at  the  close  of  the  Civil  War,  in  absolute 
control  of  more  than  a  million  armed  men,  there  might  have 
been  usurpation  and  tyranny,  but  as  it  was,  under  a  wise 
and  Uberty-loving  ruler,  the  vast  army  was  not  misused  to 
promote  the  ambition  and  power  of  a  personal  ruler.  The 
laws  were  respected  and  the  citizen-soldiers  were  soon  again 
engaged  in  the  vocations  of  peace.  Our  small  standing 
army  of  about  25,000  men  resumed  its  usual  function  of 
keeping  a  few  military  posts  and  guarding  the  frontier. 

Power  to  Suspend  the   Writ  of  Habeas  Corpus 

An  innocent  person  may  be  charged  with  crime  and  may  be 
arrested  and  imprisoned.  The  writ  of  habeas  corpus  (you 
may  have  the  body)  is  the  means  by  which  he  obtains  release 
from  such  illegal  arrest  and  imprisonment.  He  applies 
through  his  agent  or  attorney  to  the  judge  of  a  court,  who 
issues  an  order,  or  writ,  ordering  the  sheriff  or  constable  who 
has  the  prisoner  in  charge  to  bring  him  into  court  in  order  that 
it  may  be  ascertained  whether  there  is  good  reason  for  keeping 
him  in  prison.  If  it  appears  that  the  prisoner  has  not  been 
guilty  of  violating  the  law,  the  judge  orders  his  release.  In 
this  way  justice  is  not  denied  or  delayed.  To  suspend  the  writ 
is  to  deny  to  an  imprisoned  citizen  the  right,  or  privilege,  of 
having  the  charges  against  him  examined  into,  and  it  might 
permit  those  in  ofSce  to  exercise  arbitrary  and  despotic  power 
and  to  practice  injustice  and  oppression. 

The  privilege  of  the  writ  of  habeas  corpus  is  a  "guarantee 

of  personal  liberty  as  old  as  Magna  Charta"   (1215).     The 

Constitution  says  this  privilege  "shall  not  be  suspended  unless 

when,  in  cases  of  rebellion  or  invasion,  the  public  safety  may 

Whose  require  it."     This  leaves  unsettled  the  question  whether  the 

Function  is  it  •       i  i         i       -n        •  j 

to  suspend  powcr  of  Suspending  the  writ  is  to  be  exercised  by  the  President 

the  Writ?  Qj.  |3y  Congress.     In  England  it  was  always  held  to  be  a  Parlia- 


THE  PRESIDENT 


i5i 


mentary  power,  not  a  royal  power.  Jefferson  refused  to  exer- 
cise it  and  referred  the  matter  to  Congress  when  occasion  arose 
in  the  case  of  the  Burr  conspiracy. 

The  clause  referring  to  the  power  is  in  that  part  of  the 
Constitution  (Article  i,  Section  9)  which  deals  with  the 
legislative  and  not  with  the  executiv^e  powers.  This  seems 
to  indicate  that  the  framers  of  the  Constitution  intended 
that  Congress  and  not  the  President  should  decide  the  matter; 
and  in  1861,  when  President  Lincoln  had  suspended  the  writ    Conflict 

'  between 

in  the  case  of  a  political  prisoner  confined  in  Fort  McHenry,    president 
in  Baltimore,  Chief  Justice  Taney  decided  that  the  power  did    Lincoln  and 

'  -'  ■'  .....       Chief  Justice 

not  belong  to  the  President.  The  Chief  Justice  issued  a  writ  xaney 
ordering  the  constable  to  bring  the  body  of  the  prisoner 
(Merryman)  into  his  court,  —  so  that  the  Justice  might  inquire 
into  the  lawfulness  of  his  detention,  but  Gen.  Cadwalader, 
in  command  at  Fort  McHenry,  refused  to  respect  the  writ, 
saying  that  he  was  acting  under  the  orders  of  the  President. 
The  order,  or  attachment,  of  the  Justice  could  not  be  executed 
by  a  constable  or  sheriff  with  a  posse  comitatus  ^  against  the 
superior  military  force  of  the  General,  and  the  Chief  Justice 
was  powerless  to  release  the  prisoner.  All  that  he  could  do 
was  to  write  to  the  President  protesting  against  presidential 
usurpation  and  declaring  that  a  military  government  had  been 
substituted  for  the  government  of  the  Constitution.  Chief 
Justice  Taney  called  upon  President  Lincoln  to  respect  his 
oath  of  office,  to  observe  the  constitution  and  to  execute  the 
law.  The  President  refused  to  respect  the  law  as  the  chief 
Justice  had  expounded  it;  he  acted  upon  his  own  judgment 
and  the  advice  of  his  Attorney  General,  and  maintained  his 
power. 

So,  while  judicial  opinion  has  favored  Congressional  exercise 
of  this  power  the  actual  facts  of  our  history  in  war  have 

*  Posse,  to  be  able;  comitatus  a  country.  Hence,  the  power  of  the 
the  country;  usually  those  inhabitants  summoned  by  the  sheriff  to  assist 
in  preserving  the  public  peace. 


252 


THE  CITIZEN  AND  THE   REPUBLIC 


Danger  of 

Military 

Usurpation 


favored  the  President's  use  of  the  power,  and  it  is  safe  to  say 
that  under  similar  circumstances  the  President  would  exercise 
it  again  despite  judicial  opinion.  The  facts  govern  rather  than 
the  theory.  It  is  a  power  which  from  its  nature  requires  c|uick, 
decisive  action  of  an  executive  character.  Congress  after- 
wards confirmed  President  Lincoln's  action  as  a  means  of 
removing  all  doubt  as  to  its  legality.^ 

In  the  hands  of  an  ambitious  and  unscrupulous  man  this  is 
a  dangerous  power  and  it  may  lead  to  usurpation  and  miUtary 
autocracy.  The  privilege  of  this  writ  of  habeas  corpus  has  been 
one  of  the  great  objects  of  conflict  in  all  the  constitutional 
struggles  of  the  past.  To  suspend  it  is  to  suspend  civil  liberty 
and  to  do  away  for  a  time  with  all  civil  rights.  It  may  be 
necessary,  for  in  times  of  war  and  insurrection  civil  procedure 
is  impossible.  The  courts  would  become  blocked  with  the 
cases,  and  the  more  drastic  summary  process  of  military 
restraint  must  be  employed  to  restore  order.  It  is  only  the 
stern  necessity  of  self-preservation  that  can  justify  the  vesting 
in  one  man  of  this  supreme  power,  and  it  should  be  understood 
that  in  doing  so  —  in  abandoning  the  habeas  corpus  and  a  civil 
trial  —  the  nation,  as  Blackstone  expresses  it,  is  merely 
consenting  "to  part  with  its  liberty  for  a  while  in  order  to 
preserve  it  forever."     Only  such  an  end  can  justify  such  means. 


Power  of  Appointment  and  Removal 

In  time  of  peace  the  appointing  power  probably  gives 
the  President  more  real  political  influence  than  any  other 
function  conferred  upon  him.  If  he  is  to  execute  the  laws  he 
must  be  able  to  select  and  control  the  persons  by  whom  this 


'  See  the  Merryman  Case,  Thayer's  Cases  in  Constitutional  Law, 
Vol.  II,  p.  2374.  McPherson's  History  of  the  Rebellion,  p.  155.  Wood- 
burn's  American  Republic,  pp.  179-180.  "The  Constitution  in  War 
Time"  by  Henry  J.  Ford  in  Atlantic  Monthly,  October,  1917.  Also  an 
Address  before  the  American  Bar  Association,  by  Hon.  Charles  E.  Hughes, 
former  Justice  of  the  Supreme  Court,  Senate  Document  105,  (191 7). 


THE   PRESIDENT 


253 


is  to  be  done.  The  influence  of  the  senate  over  appoint- 
ments is  discussed  elsewhere  (see  p.  264).  Congress  may  by 
law  specify  certain  qualifications  for  appointees,  determine 
the  terms  on  which  they  may  hold  office  (their  tenure)  and 
provisions  for  their  promotion.     The  growth  of  the  country    '^^^ 

Appointing 

and  the  great  increase  in  governmental  functions  have  led  power 
to  the  existence  of  a  vast  army  of  appointive  offices  under 
the  Federal  Government,  and  although  the  merit  system  and 
the  classified  service  (see  p.  60)  have  relieved  the  President  of 
much  of  the  burden  and  responsibility  in  appointments,  yet  so 
many  important  appointments  are  still  dependent  upon  him 
that  he  may,  if  he  chooses,  exercise  a  tremendous  political 
power  by  using  these  offices  for  party  purposes  or  in  build- 
ing up  a  personal  or  party  machine.  It  was  not  expected 
in  1787  that  a  President  would  be  at  all  governed  by  a 
party  motive  in  making  appointments,  and  Madison  said  a 
President  would  be  subject  to  impeachment  if  he  should  act 
so.  But  our  party  history  has  brought  such  motives  into  use 
and  many  of  the  presidential  appointments  are  still  deter- 
mined by  political  or  party  considerations  rather  than  by 
the  public  need. 

The  power  of  appointment  has  carried  with  it  the  power  of 
removal.  The  senate's  consent  being  necessary  to  appoint- 
ment, should  it  not  also  be  necessary  to  removal?  This  has 
been  greatly  debated  at  various  times  in  our  history.  Hamil- 
ton and  Madison  in  the  Federalist  ^  differed  on  the  question  in 
1788,  Hamilton  insisting  that  the  senate's  consent  should  be 
deemed  essential  to  any  removal  by  the  President.  He 
wanted  fixed  tenure  and  strong  stable  government  and  he 
would   allow   the    senate   to   have  a  chance   to    restrain   the 

^  A  collection  of  essays  which  are  now  published  under  the  title 
of  "The  Federalist."  These  essays,  eighty-five  in  number,  were  de- 
signed especially  to  gain  supporters  to  the  new  constitution.  They 
were  written  by  Madison,  Hamilton,  and  Jay.  Even  at  this  day 
"The  Federalist"  remains  the  greatest  commentary  upon  the  consti- 
tution ever  written 


The  Power  of 
Removal 


254  TJIE   CITIZEN   AND  THE   REPUBLIC 

President  before  changes  could  be  made.  Madison  insisted 
that  a  removal  was  so  clearly  an  executive  act  that  the 
President  could  not  fairly  be  held  responsible  for  execut- 
ing the  laws  unless  he  could  control  his  subordinates  and 
assistants,  removing  them  if  necessary,  and  putting  more 
faithful  officers  in  their  places  to  carry  out  his  orders.  His 
view  prevailed. 

In  1829  the  question  again  came  up,  Webster,  Calhoun,  and 
Clay  objecting  to  Jackson's  wholesale  removals  in  using 
the  offices  for  party  spoils;  but  Jackson's  power  was  sustained. 
Again  in  1867,  when  there  was  a  fierce  quarrel  between  Congress 
and  President  Johnson,  Congress  attempted,  by  the  Tenure  of 

The  Tenure  of     Office  Act,  to  restrain  the  President  in  his  power  of  removal. 

Office  Act  -pi^g  act  provided  that  while   the  senate  was  not  in   session 

the  President  might  suspend  a  subordinate  and  appoint  some 
one  else  ad  interim,  but  when  the  senate  met  again  the  Presi- 
dent should  give  to  the  senate  his  reasons  for  the  suspension 
of  the  officer.  If  the  senate  voted  that  these  reasons  were 
good  the  suspension  was  to  be  deemed  valid  and  the  newly 
appointed  officer  was  to  hold  the  place.  But  if  the  senate 
did  not  deem  the  reasons  for  removal  to  be  good,  then  the 
ad  interim  appointment  was  to  fall  and  the  old  officer  who  had 
been  suspended  was  to  be  restored  to  his  place. 

This  Tenure  of  Office  Act  was  never  tested  in  the  courts,  and 
if  it  had  been  it  would  likely  have  been  declared  unconstitu- 
tional. It  was  for  resisting  it,  chiefly  in  removing  Secretary 
Stanton,  that  President  Johnson  was  impeached.  After  the 
Congressional  party  had  elected  a  new  President  (Grant) 
and  harmony  was  restored  between  the  two  departments 
of  the  Government,  the  greater  part  of  the  act  was  repealed 
and  the  last  remnants  of  it  were  repealed  under  President 
Cleveland,  who  stood  up  stoutly  for  his  independent  pre- 
rogative in  removals.  So  it  may  be  said  that,  both  by  law 
and  history,  the  President  has  a  free  hand  in  removals. 


THE   PRESIDENT  255 

Power  to  Protect  the  States 

The  United  States  is  bound  by  the  Constitution  to  guarantee 
to  each  State  {a)  a  repubhcan  form  of  government,  and  {b) 
protection  against  invasion  and  domestic  violence.  ^  This  is 
called  the  guarantee  clause,  and  under  it,  in  certain  circum-   ^^® 

^  ,  .  .      .  Guarantee 

Stances,    the    United    States    may    use    its    power'  within  a    clause 
State  to  preserve  order  or  to  settle  differences  between  rival 
governments.     The    President's    action     "against    domestic 
violence"  is   to  occur  only  when   the  legislature   or   the  ex- 
ecutive of  the  State  asks  aid  of  the  national  Government. 

The  Supreme  Court  has  decided  that  when  Congress 
admits  members  of  Congress  from  a  State  to  their  seats,  the 
authority  of  the  State  government  under  which  they  are 
elected  is  recognized  as  "republican"  and  this  decision  is 
binding  on  other  departments  of  the  Government.^  The 
Supreme  Court  has  lately  refused  to  interfere  by  upsetting 
the  Oregon  system  of  government  as  un-republican.  Such 
interference  is  a  poUtical  matter  to  be  decided  upon  by  the 
political    branch    of   the   Government. 

In  a  case  of  "domestic  violence"  the  legislature  of  a  State, 
or  its  Governor  (if  the  legislature  is  not  in  session),  applies 
to  the  President  if  help  is  needed,  as  by  the  act  of  February 
28,  1795,  the  duty  of  fulfilHng  this  guarantee  was  placed  upon 
the  Executive.  The  President  is  not  bound  to  wait  for  an 
application  from  a  State  authority  before  he  intervenes.  If 
a  domestic  insurrection  or  riot  within  a  State  interrupts  the 
operations  of  the  functions  of  the  United  States  Government 
or  is  causing  the  violation  of  United  States  law,  the  President 
may  intervene  even  against  the  protest  of  the  State  authority. 
The  President  must  decide  when  the  emergency  exists.     A 

'  Constitution,  Article  4,  Section  4. 

2  See  the  famous  case  of  Luther  vs.  Borden,  and  the  account  of  Dorr's 
Rebellion  in  Rhode  Island,  1842.  Thayer's  Cases  Decided  in  1848, 
Woodburn's  American  Republic,  p.  173. 


256  THE  CITIZEN   AND  THE   REPUBLIC 

notable  instance  of  this  is  seen  in  President  Cleveland's  action 
in  the  great  railway  strikes  in  Chicago  in  1894,  in  which  he 
interfered  by  sending  United  States  troops  to  enable  Federal 
authorities  to  enforce  the  United  States  postal  laws  and  the 
Inter-state  Commerce  Act. 

The  President  must  "take  care  that  the  laws  be  faithfully 
executed,"  and  the  execution  of  the  national  law  must  not  be 
left  to  depend  upon  the  disposition  or  capacity  of  a  State  or 
its  officers.  The  States  have  always  been  able  and  willing, 
as  a  rule,  to  enforce  the  law  and  preserve  order  within  their 
borders  and  to  cooperate  rather  than  to  obstruct  in  the  enforce- 
ment of  national  law.  It  was  the  spirit  and  purpose  of  the 
Constitution  to  provide  for  Federal  aid  only  when  the  State 
called  for  it.  In  1787  it  was  deemed  dangerous  to  liberty 
and  to  the  independence  of  the  States  and  altogether  too 
nationalistic  to  confer  upon  a  Federal  officer  the  power  to 
"invade  a  State"  at  his  own  behest,  on  the  plea  of  enforcing 
law  and  preserving  order.  It  is  the  State's  business  to  quell 
riots  and  preserve  order  and  it  is  still  the  law  of  the  Con- 
stitution that  Federal  interference  shall  occur  only  at  the  re- 
quest of  the  State.  But  in  the  rare  case  of  conflict  between  the 
two  authorities  the  State  must  give  way,  —  unless  public 
opinion  and  the  national  sentiment  should  sustain  its  con- 
tention. The  principle  is  that  "law  and  order"  must  be 
preserved  and  that  for  this  purpose  "behind  the  city  stands 
the  State  and  behind  the  State  stands  the  nation." 

TOPICS   AND    QUERIES 

1.  Debate:    "Resolved  that  the  English  ministerial  system  of  govern- 

ment is  better  than  the  American  presidential  system." 

2.  Why  did  the  Americans  not  adopt  the   English  system?     Would 

it  be  possible  to  adopt  it  now  in  any  of  the  States  without  chang- 
ing the  United  States  Constitution?     Why? 

3.  Show  how  the  President's  powers  have  grown  under  our  system. 

Why  has  this  happened?  Is  the  President  separate  from  Con- 
gress? Or  does  he  lead  Congress?  Ought  he  to  be  merely  an 
executive  to  administer  the  law,  or  a  leader  in  determining  what 


THE   PRESIDENT  257 

laws  should  be  made?  What  were  the  intentions  of  the  framers  of 
the  Constitution  on  this  point?  What  policy  does  President 
Wilson  pursue  in  this  respect?  How  have  the  greater  number  of 
Presidents  acted?  Consult  current  periodicals  for  articles  on 
the  President's  office  and  its  powers. 

4.  Why  after  every  presidential  election  are  proposals  made  to  change 

the  method  of  electing  the  President?  What  better  method  is 
proposed?  What  reasons  now  exist  for  a  change  which  did  not 
exist  when  the  Constitution  was  made? 

5.  Show  how  a  candidate  for  President  may  receive  a  majority  of  the 

popular  vote  and  yet  fail  of  election.  Is  this  right?  Why? 
What  advantage,  or  disadvantage,  would  result  from  allowing  the 
popular  vote  to  decide? 

6.  How  few  votes  in  California  might  have  changed  the  result  of  the 

election  in  1916?     Significance  of  this. 

REFERENCES 

Ashley,  Roscoe  L.      The  American  Federal  Slate,  Chap.  XIV,  pp.  284-302, 
Beard,    Charles    A.     American    Government    and    Politics,    Chap.    X, 

pp.  187-214. 
Beard,    Charles   A.     Readings  in    American  Government   and    Politics, 

Chap.  X  on  the  "Powers  of  the  President." 
Bryce,  James.      The  American   Commonwealth,  Vol.   I,   Chaps.    V,  VI, 

pp.  38-68. 
Finley,  John  H.  and  Sanderson.      The  American  Executive. 
Harrison,  Benjamin.      This  Country  of  Ours.     Chap.  IV,  pp.  68-180. 
Hart,  A.  B.     Actual  Government,  Chap.  XV,  pp.  258-275. 
Hinsdale,  B.  A.      The  American  Government,  Chaps.  XXVIII-XXXII, 

pp.  248-283. 
Macy,  Jesse,  and  Gannaway,    John  W.     Comparative  Free  Government, 

Chaps.  IV-VII,  pp.  31-79. 
Moran,  T.  F.  The  Theory  and  Practice  of  the  English  Government. 
Wilson,    Woodrow.     Constitutional   Government   in   the     United   States. 
Woodburn,   James   A.      The    A  merican    Republic   and   its  Government, 

Chap.  Ill,  pp.  94-194. 
Young,  James  T.      The  New  American  Government,  Chap.  II,  pp..  10-41 
Use  Hart  and  Mc'La.ughlin's  Cyclopedia  of  American  Government,  on  the 

topics  of  the  chapter. 


Term 


CHAPTER  XIV 
THE   SENATE 

The   Senate  of   the   United   States  consists  of  ninety-six 

members,  two  from  each  of  the  forty-eight  States.     A  Senator 

is  required  (a)  to  be  thirty  years  of  age,  (b)  to  have  been  nine 

Composition  of    years  a  citizen  of  the  United  States,  (c)  to  be  at  the  time  of 

Qualifications      his  election  an  inhabitant  of  that  State  for  which  he  is  chosen. 

of  Senators         During  his  term  of  office  no  senator  can  hold  any  other  ofl&ce 

under  the  United  States. 

The  term  of  the  senator  is  for  six  years.  Senators  may  be 
reelected  for  any  number  of  terms  and  many  of  the  States 
continue  their  senators  for  a  long  period  of  years.  Many 
of  the  present  senators  have  been  in  the  Senate  for  twenty 
years  and  in  the  past  some  have  served  for  over  thirty  years. 
This  makes  the  Senate  an  older  and  more  conservative  body 
than  the  House. 

The  reelection  of  a  senator  is  the  rule  rather  than  the 
exception  as  long  as  his  party  holds  political  control  of  his 
State.  It  is  rather  the  other  way  in  the  House,  especially 
in  some  parts  of  the  country.  If  a  representative  has  been 
elected  for  six  or  eight  years  it  is  thought  "he  ought  to  pass  the 
office  around  and  give  others  a  chance."  By  changing  its 
delegation  frequently  a  State  loses  weight  and  influence  in 
Congress,  as  it  takes  a  new  member  some  time  to  learn  the 
ways  of  the  Congress  and  to  come  to  wield  a  large  influence. 
This  partly  accounts  for  the  Senate's  wielding  a  more  effective 
influence  on  legislation  than  the  House  (see  p.  269). 

Senators  are  now  elected  by  the  people  of  their  respective 
States  by  a  direct  popular  vote.     They  are  nominated  by  their 

258 


Method 
of  Election 


M 


f-  A*! 


<'#* 


^pSj  \  mi 


CJ 


pp 


THE  SENATE 


259 


parties  either  in  primaries  or  in  State  conventions,  just  as 
the  candidate  for  Governor  and  the  other  candidates  on  the 
State  ticket  are  nominated,  the  candidate  for  senator  being 
regarded  as  the  head  of  the  State  ticket.  The  original  Con- 
stitution provided  that  the  senators  should  be  elected  by  the 
State  legislatures,  and  it  was  not  until  1913  that  the  change 
was  brought  about  by  the  Seventeenth  Amendment. 

The  Vice  President  of  the  United  States  is  the  presiding 
officer  of  the  Senate.  He  may  vote  in  case  of  a  tie.  He  is 
not  a  member  of  the  Senate  and  he  may,  therefore,  claim  no 
vote  except  to  break  a  tie.  The  Senate  may  choose,  along 
with  its  other  officers,  a  president  pro  tempore,  who  presides 
in  the  absence  of  the  Vice  President  or  if  the  latter  should 
become  President  of  the  United  States.  The  Senate's  presi- 
dent pro  tem  is  a  member  of  the  Senate  and  he  may  claim 
a  vote  on  any  question  that  may  arise,  but,  having  voted  once, 
he  cannot,  of  course,  vote  again  even  in  case  of  a  tie. 

Character  of  the  Senate  as  a  Legislative  Body 

When  the  Senate  was  first  organized  its  members  were 
divided  into  three  classes:  The  terms  of  the  first  class  expired 
in  two  years,  of  the  second  in  four,  of  the  third  in  six;  after 
that  all  terms  were  for  six  years.  By  this  arrangement 
(provided  for  in  the  Constitution)  the  Senate  was  made  a 
continuous,  or  permanent  body.  It  also  provides  that  the 
two  senators  from  a  State  never  come  up  for  reelection  at 
the  same  time.^ 

In  every  Congress  two  thirds  of  the  senators  were  in  the 
preceding  Congress.  Not  more  than  one  third  of  the  Senate 
can  be  changed  at  any  election,  and  it  seldom  happens  that  as 
many  as  a  third  are  changed  every  two  years.  So  while  the 
Senate  may  undergo  an  "unceasing  process  of  gradual  renewal" 
and  "be  always  changing,  it  is  forever  the  same."  This  adds 
to  the  dignity  and  weight  of  the  Senate  in  national  affairs 
^  Unless  a  death  or  resignation  should  occur. 


The  President 
of  the  Senate 


Classes  of 
Senators: 
Permanent 
Character  of 
the  Senate 


26o 


THE  CITIZEN   AND  THE   REPUBLIC 


The  Federal 
Character  of 
the  Seoate 


Undemocratic 
Character  of 
the  Senate 


(see  p.  269).  It  also  qualifies  the  Senate  to  participate  in 
conducting  the  foreign  affairs  of  the  nation  where  continuity 
of  policy  is  needed. 

In  its  origin  the  Senate  was  made  up  with  a  view  to  pre- 
serving the  federal  character  of  our  government,  —  that  is, 
a  government  by  States.  In  the  Constitutional  Convention 
of  1787  there  were  two  parties  of  opinion,  or  two  dispositions 
toward  the  States:  one  wished  to  consider  them  as  geographical 
districts  of  people,  all  together  making  up  one  political  society; 
the  other  would  preserve  the  States  as  so  many  distinct  political 
societies.  The  fact  was  each  State  was  a  distinct  political 
society  and  had  been  so  in  colonial  times,  and  very  few  were 
willing  to  merge  their  States  into  one  mass  to  become  a  con- 
sohdated  continental  people.  Still  the  large  State  leaders 
insisted  that  "authority  should  be  derived  not  from  the  States 
but  from  the  people  and  that  equal  numbers  of  people  should 
have  an  equal  number  of  representatives  and  different  num- 
bers of  people  different  numbers  of  representatives."  ^  The 
history  of  the  convention  of  1787  shows  how  these  two  ideas 
were  combined,  that  "in  one  branch  the  people  ought  to  be 
represented,  in  the  other  the  States."  ^  So  the  House  was 
made  national  in  its  representative  character  while  the  Senate 
was  made  Federal,  to  make  it  a  body  representing  the  States 
as  separate  and  equal  political  communities.  In  the  Senate 
the  States  are  equal,  in  the  sense  of  having  equal  rights  and 
equal  power. 

Of  course  this  is  quite  undemocratic.  From  a  purely  demo- 
cratic point  of  view  it  is  quite  absurd  that  a  population  of 
100,000  in  one  state  should  have  as  much  power  as  ten  million 
people  in  another;  that  little  Delaware,  hardly  larger  than 
two  good  sized  counties,  should  have  equal  weight  in  making 
the  laws  with  the  great  State  of  Pennsylvania.  It  is  as  if  a 
single  rural  county  in  Illinois  were  given  as  much  power  in 

^  Wilson  of  Pennsylvania  in  the  Convention. 
2  Dr.  Johnson  of  Connecticut  in  the  Convention. 


THE  SENATE  26 1 

making  laws  for  that  State  as  the  whole  city  of  Chicago. 
One  may  think  this  very  unreasonable  and  unfair,  but  we 
must  remember  that  is  the  way  that  our  Constitution  was 
made.  Our  fathers  did  not  wish  to  form  a  purely  democratic 
consolidated  government.  They  formed,  in  part,  a  federal 
government,  not  a  government  of  the  people  of  the  United 
States  en  masse,  but  a  government  of  the  people  in  States. 

Hamilton  set  forth  five  purposes  for  the  creation  of  the 
Senate  which  it  may  be  well  to  summarize  here: 

1.  To  conciliate  the  spirit  of  independence  in  the  States  by    Original 

.  Purposes  of 

equal  representation.  the  Senate 

2.  To  create  a  council  qualified  to  advise  and  check  the 
President  in  appointments  and  treaties. 

3.  To  restrain  the  House,  guarding  against  passion  and 
sudden  changes  in  the  people. 

4.  To  provide  a  body  of  stability,  character  and  continuity 
in  policy,  composed  of  men  of  larger  experience,  of  longer 
terms,  and  more  independent  of  popular  election. 

5.  To  establish  a  court  for  impeachment. 

Powers  of  the  Senate 

Three  classes  of  powers  are  exercised  by  the  Senate: 
I.   Legislative.     2.  Executive.     3.  Judicial. 

Legislative  Powers 

As  a  legislative  body  the  Senate  is  coordinate  with  the 
House.  Its  consent  is  necessary  to  the  passage  of  any  bill 
before  it  can  become  a  law.  It  has  all  the  legislative  power 
the  House  has  except  that  it  may  not  originate  a  revenue  bill. 
This  exception  amounts  to  nothing  since  the  Senate  may 
amend  a  revenue  bill  (tariff  bills,  etc.)  coming  up  from  the 
House  and  thus  be  just  as  influential  as  the  House  in  determin- 
ing its  final  form.  The  Senate  has  at  various  times  put  on 
from  three  hundred  to  eight  hundred  amendments  to  tariff 
bills  that  have   had  to  originate  in   the  House  (see  p.  297). 


262 


THE   CITIZEN   AND  THE   REPUBLIC 


Instruction  of 
Senators 


In  earlier  days  it  was  claimed  that,  acting  through  its 
legislature,  a  State  had  a  right  to  instruct  its  senators  in 
Congress  how  they  should  vote  and  that  the  senators  should 
feel  bound  to  obey  these  instructions.  This  was  held  to  be 
so  especially  because  the  legislature  elected  the  senators,  and 
because  the  senators  were  looked  upon  as  somewhat  in  the 
character  of  diplomatic  representatives  to  another  government 
who  should,  of  course,  be  bound  by  instructions  from  their 
"home  government."  At  times  during  our  history  instruc- 
tions have  been  so  given  and  obeyed.  At  other  times  senators 
have  refused  to  be  so  bound  and  there  was  no  way  to  control 
their  action.  Public  opinion  came  to  accept  the  idea  of 
representation  that  the  representative  should  be  left  free  to 
vote  and  act  on  his  own  conscience  and  judgment.  A  legis- 
lature may  change  its  political  complexion  during  a  senatorial 
term  and  partisan  instructions  imposed  upon  a  senator  of  the 
opposite  party  would  hardly  be  effective.  Now  that  the 
legislatures  have  ceased  to  elect  the  senators  there  is  still 
less  reason  for  exercising  instructions  and  no  practicable 
way  of  doing  it.  A  State  legislature  or  a  party  State  conven- 
tion might  request  the  senators  of  the  State  to  vote  a  certain 
way,  and  such  a  request  would  not  be  lightly  regarded.  But 
a  senator's  vote  is  his  own  to  be  cast  according  to  his  own  good 
sense  and  conscience.  As  a  matter  of  course  he  will  always 
be  influenced  in  casting  it  by  the  public  sentiment  in  his  State 
when  he  has  reliable  ways  of  learning  what  that  sentiment  is. 


The  Senate  as 
an  Executive 
Council 


Executive  Powers 

Originally  it  was  supposed  that  the  chief  business  of  the 
Senate  would  be  executive.  Its  legislative  powers  were  not 
considered  of  as  much  importance  as  its  executive  powers. 
The  Senate  was  to  be  a  small  body,  of  twenty-six  members 
at  first,  not  much  more  numerous  than  a  President's  cabinet. 
It  was  expected  that  they  might  frequently  sit  with  the  Presi- 
dent to  consider  appointments,  treaties,  and  other  executive 


THE  SENATE 


263 


matters.  The  senators  were  to  be  like  ambassadors  from 
the  States  and  it  was  thought  that  the  foreign  relations  of  the 
country  and  giving  executive  advice  would  be  their  chief 
concern.  The  Senate  was  designed  to  be  a  moderating  body 
between  the  two  branches  of  the  national  Government, 
advising  and  helping  to  control  the  executive  on  the  one  hand 
and  checking  the  legislative  branch  (the  House)  on  the  other. 
So  far  as  legislation  was  concerned  it  was  expected  that  the 
Senate  would  merely  revise,  or  check,  legislation,  like  the 
House  of  Lords  in  England  or  the  Governor's  Council  in  the 
colonies,  but  it  was  not  to  be  equal  to  the  House  in  deter- 
mining the  policy  and  merits  of  new  laws.  It  was  supposed 
that  public  policy  and  legislation  would  be  determined  by  the 
House  and  that  if  a  bill  passed  the  House,  it  would,  as  a  matter 
of  course,  pass  the  Senate  unless  it  was  plainly  unconstitu- 
tional or  flagrantly  opposed  to  the  public  interest. 

"  In  the  earlier  years  the  rising  intellects  and  ambitious 
young  men  of  the  country  sought  the  arena  of  the  House  as 
the  best  place  to  display  their  political  talents.  Mr.  Madison 
observed  on  one  occasion  that,  being  a  young  man  and  desiring 
to  increase  his  reputation,  he  could  not  afford  to  enter  the 
Senate;  and  it  will  be  remembered  that,  so  late  as  181 2,  the 
great  debates  which  preceded  the  war  and  aroused  the  country 
to  the  assertion  of  its  rights  took  place  in  the  other  branch  of 
Congress."  ^ 

The  changes  of  a  hundred  years  have  brought  it  about  that 
the  Senate  has  become  not  only  in  all  respects  coordinate,  but 
in  many  ways  a  more  powerful  body  in  legislation  than  the  Growing 
House.  It  has  increased  its  legislative  weight  and  influence  the  Senate 
while  losing  none  of  its  control  over  the  executive  powers  of  the 
nation.  So  our  upper  house,  the  Senate,  has  become  one  of  the 
most  important  and  powerful  legislative  chambers  in  the  world. 


1  Vice  President  Breckenridge  to  the  Senate  on  their  leaving  the  old 
chamber  for  the  new,  January  4,  1859.  Congressional  Globe,  1858-9,  Part 
I,  p.  203. 


264  THE   CITIZEN   AND  THE   REPUBLIC 

The  changes  of  a  hundred  years  have  been  exactly  in  the 
other  direction  in  England.  There  the  House  of  Lords, 
which  was  quite  powerful  a  century  ago,  has  had  its  powers 
reduced  until  it  is  now  quite  impotent  even  to  check  or 
prevent  legislation  by  the  Commons  against  a  persistent 
majority  in  the  latter  body.  There  are  a  number  of  such 
instances  and  differences  which  go  to  show  that  the  English 
Government  is  much  more  democratic,  in  some  respects,  than 
the  American. 

In  its  executive  functions  the  senate  may  (a)  participate 
in  the  treaty-making  power;  {b)  participate  in  the  appointing 
power. 

Treaties  made  by  the  President,  before  they  can  become 
the  law  of  the  land,  must  be  confirmed  by  the  Senate,  by  a 
two-thirds  vote  of  the  senators  present.  A  quorum  must  be 
present  for  the  transaction  of  business. ^  A  majority  vote 
of  the  Senate  is  sufficient  to  confirm  appointments. 
The  Execuave  'pj^g  Senate  goes  into  executive  session  to  consider  treaties  and 
appointments.  This  is  a  secret  session,  a  revival  of  an  early 
practice.2  When  the  Senate  goes  into  executive  session  the 
galleries  are  cleared,  the  doors  are  closed,  and  the  obligation 
of  secrecy  is  imposed  upon  the  senators.  No  sessions  of  the 
Senate  are  of  more  interest  to  the  public  than  the  executive 
sessions. 

It  is  useless,  if  not  harmful,  to  try  to  preserve  the  secrecy 
of  the  executive  session.  It  is  better  to  have  all  govern- 
mental discussions  and  actions  in  the  open,  as  the  people 
have  a  right  to  know  what  their  representatives  say  and  do. 
It  has  been  contended  that  matters  of  grave  moment  in  inter- 

*  For  the  process  of  treaty-making  see  pp.  246-247. 

»  For  the  first  five  years  of  the  Senate's  history  (till  1794)  all  the  ses- 
sions of  the  Senate  were  held  in  secret.  The  sessions  of  the  Constitu- 
tional Convention  of  1 787  were  held  in  secret.  It  was  felt  that  the  people 
ought  not  to  be  allowed  to  learn  what  was  being  said  and  done,  as  pub- 
lic agitations  might  interfere  with  the  dehberations,  or  the  delegates 
might  be  too  much  influenced  by  popular  clamor. 


Session 


THE  SENATE  265 

national  relations  and  diplomacy  cannot  be  considered  with 
dignity  and  safety  in  public.  On  the  other  hand  it  is  widely 
beheved  that  many  of  the  unbecoming  national  ambitions, 
aggressions,  quarrels,  and  wars  might  have  been  restrained 
and  prevented  if  the  negotiations  and  decisions  of  diplomats 
had  been  carried  on  in  public.  Rulers  should  be  responsible 
to  public  opinion  in  international  affairs  as  well  as  in  domestic 
affairs. 

The  courtesy  of  the  Senate  refers  to  the  mutual  support  and 
privileges  the  senators  accord  to  one  another,  especially  in 
the  matter  of  confirming  or  rejecting  appointments.  This 
courtesy  comes  from  the  habitual  desire  of  the  senators  to 
favor  one  another  where  their  personal  interests  are  concerned. 

The  chief  application  of  senatorial  courtesy  is  found  in  the 
support  senators  give  to  one  another  in  order  to  control  ex- 
ecutive appointments.     When  the   Constitution  gave   to  the    Senatorial 

•r>        •  1  1  1  •  •  1  .     Courtesy  and 

rresident  the  power  to  make  appomtments  it  was  understood   Appointments 

that  he  should  decide  who  was  to  be  appointed;    the  Senate 

should  check  him  only  when  unfit  men  were  named  for  ofl&ce. 

It  was  not  intended  that  senators  should  dictate  appointments 

or  even  recommend  men  for  places.     The  President  now  has 

a  free  hand  only  in  choosing  his  cabinet,  for   the  practice 

soon  arose  in  the  Senate  of  rejecting  other  nominees  of  the 

President  on  any  ground  the  Senate  might  choose,  for  personal 

or  party  reasons  or  merely  to  spite  the  President.     Then  the 

senators  began  to  claim  for  themselves  the  right  to  control 

appointments  and  removals  within  their  respective  States. 

It  came  to  pass  that  when  the  President  came  to  appoint 
men  to  ofl&ce,  in  Virginia,  for  instance,  the  senators  from 
that  State,  if  the  President  had  not  consulted  them  or  acted 
in  harmony  with  their  wishes  in  the  matter,  were  allowed  by 
the  "courtesy"  of  the  other  senators  to  decide  whether  the 
appointments  should  be  rejected.  If  the  senator  from  Vir- 
ginia, interested  in  the  control  of  this  patronage  for  the  sake 
of  his  political  supporters,  advised  rejection  his  colleagues, 


266  THE  CITIZEN   AND  THE   REPUBLIC 

remembering  that  they  might  sometime  wish  the  return  of 
the  "courtesy,"  rejected  the  President's  nominations.  The 
senators  standing  together  in  this  way  can  put  pressure  upon 
the  President.  They  insist  that  before  making  a  nomination 
to  an  office  in  any  State,  the  President  shall  consult  his  party 
friends  and  leaders  in  that  State,  usually  the  party  senators 
and  representatives,  and  be  guided  by  their  wishes.  "You 
help  me  to  control  the  appointments  in  my  State  and  I  will 
help  you  to  control  the  appointments  in  your  State,"  —  a 
sort  of  log-rolling  ^  process. 

This  has  led  to  serious  abuses  until  "senatorial  courtesy" 
has  become  a  reproach.  It  has  now  come  to  pass  that 
the  senators  and  representatives  distribute  the  executive 
offices.  Their  time  and  energy  are  largely  taken  up  by 
trying  to  satisfy  applicants  for  office.  By  these  ap- 
pointments, they  build  up  personal  political  machines  within 
their  States;  and  what  was  originally  a  purely  executive  power 
has  been  surrendered  to,  or  has  been  usurped  by,  members 
of  the  national  legislature.  If  the  President  resists  or  refuses 
to  be  guided  by  this  senatorial  control,  he  runs  the  risk  of 
having  his  nominations  rejected,  his  administration  embar- 
rassed, and  his  renomination  opposed  and  defeated.  The 
President  prefers  to  consult  the  senators  and  representatives, 
and,  so  far  as  seems  reasonable,  to  comply  with  their  wishes, 
in  order  to  preserve  and  promote  party  harmony.  This 
cooperation  between  a  party  president  and  party  legislators 
is  a  part  of  our  party  system  or  custom  which  has  gradually 

1  In  early  pioneer  days  when  the  settlers  were  making  a  "clearing" 
and  were  felling  the  trees  and  rolling  the  logs  to  the  stream  to  float 
them  to  the  sawmill,  or  were  rolling  them  in  a  heap  to  be  burned  to 
get  them  out  of  the  way,  the  neighbors  helped  one  another  in  turn. 
The  work  was  too  heavy  for  the  men  of  a  single  household;  so  "you 
help  me  roll  my  logs  and  I'll  help  you  roll  yours"  became  the  custom. 
Unfortunately  this  principle  has  been  applied  to  legislation. 

See  the  famous  case  of  early  log-rolling  between  Hamilton  and 
Jefferson  in  the  location  of  the  national  capital  in  1790. 


THE  SENATE  267 

grown  up  in  the  country,  and  it  is  contended  that  the  President 
must  not  break  down  senatorial  political  machines  or  weaken 
the  party  organization  within  a  State  by  an  independent  use 
of  the  Federal  patronage. 

This  "courtesy  of  the  Senate"  and  party  practice  has 
a  direct  connection  with  the  spoils  system,  that  is,  the  use  of 
the  Federal  offices  for  party  rewards  in  return  for  party  work 
(see  p.  60).  The  State  is  regarded  as  the  political  domain 
of  the  Senator,  like  a  fief  under  the  feudal  system,  and  his 
political  underlords,  or  workers,  must  be  selected  by  himself 
and  he  must  have  offices  with  which  to  reward  them.  The 
appointees  must  be  his  men,  and  they  must  work  for  him, 
either  to  secure  his  renomination,  or,  if  the  senator  be  a 
candidate  for  President,  to  help  in  securing  the  appointment 
of  the  right  kind  of  delegates  to  the  national  convention.^ 

It  must  in  fairness  be  remembered,  however,  that  Senators 
and  members  of  Congress  usually  know  candidates  for  office 
in  their  states  better  than  the  President  possibly  can,  and  it 
is  convenient  for  him  to  consult  these  pubUc  representatives. 
The  custom  is  a  natural  growth  in  politics. 

Judicial  Powers:   Impeachment 

The  Senate  has  the  sole  power  to  try  impeachments.  The 
House,  through  its  proper  committee,  brings  the  charges. 
The  President,  Vice  President,  and  all  "civil  officers"  of  the 
United  States  are  subject  to  impeachment  and  may  be  re-  who  may  be 
moved  from  office  upon  conviction  of  treason,  bribery,  or  Penalty 
"other  high  crimes  and  misdemeanors."  "High  crimes  and 
misdemeanors"  is  an  elastic  term  and  might  be  made  to 
cover  many  lines  of  misconduct,  but  it  has  been  held  to  mean 
not  political  misconduct  or  pursuing  a  public  policy  which 
may  be  deemed  to  be  harmful,  but  some  violation  by  an  officer 
of  the  Constitution  of  his  oath  of  office,  or  the  committing  of 
some  act  which  is  a  crime  by  law. 

1  See  Woodburn's  "  Political  Parties,"  p.  229. 


268 


THE   CITIZEN  AND  THE   REPUBLIC 


The  Senate 

and 

Impeachment 


Who  are 
"  CivU 
Officers  "  ? 


When  the  President  is  tried  on  impeachment  the  Chief 
Justice  presides,  but  in  ordinary  impeachment  trials,  the 
Vice  President  or  the  President  pro  tempore  of  the  Senate 
presides.  The  trial  occurs  before  the  Senate,  the  process 
resembling  that  of  a  trial  by  jury.  The  House  appoints  a 
committee  of  members  to  prosecute  the  charges  before  the 
Senate;  the  accused  is  entitled  to  counsel  and  to  full  oppor- 
tunity to  present  his  defense;  witnesses  are  examined;  and 
the  Senate  then  deliberates  in  secret  session  while  arriving 
at  a  decision.  A  two-thirds  vote  is  necessary  to  conviction, 
and  in  case  of  conviction  no  further  penalty  can  be  imposed 
than  removal  from  office  and  disqualification  to  hold  any 
office  of  honor,  trust,  or  profit  under  the  United  States;  but 
the  officer  convicted  may,  however,  be  liable  to  indictment, 
trial,  and  punishment  for  his  offense  in  a  court  of  law. 

Under  the  impeachment  court  as  now  established  it  is  the 
understanding  (understandings  are  a  part  of  the  unwritten 
law)  that  the  senators  are  on  their  oath  to  act,  not  from  any 
political  or  party  bias,  but  entirely  in  a  judicial  capacity,  as 
impartial  judges,  and  experience  has  shown  that  the  Senate 
may  be  trusted  to  act  in  this  way.  In  the  celebrated  im- 
peachment trial  of  President  Johnson  in  1868  seven  Republi- 
can senators  voted,  not  for  conviction,  as  party  spirit  was 
urging  them  to  do,  but  for  acquittal,  as  they  judged  the  law 
and  the  evidence  demanded.  They  received  severe  party 
censure  at  the  time,  but  have  been  highly  commended  since 
for  their  judicial  and  constitutional  course. 

The  Constitution  says,  as  we  have  seen,  the  President,  Vice 
President,  and  "civil  officers  of  the  United  States"  are  impeach- 
able. Who  are  "civil  officers  of  the  United  States"?  The 
word  "civil"  is  here  used  in  contradistinction  to  "military  "; 
consequently  officers  of  the  army  and  navy  are  exempt  from 
impeachment.  The  miHtary  and  naval  officers  are  liable  to 
trial  and  punishment  under  martial  law.  It  has  been  held  that 
senators  and    representatives    are  not  "civil  officers  of  the 


THE  SENATE  269 

United  States"  and  are,  therefore,  not  impeachable.  They 
are  regarded  as  officers  of  the  States,  or  representatives  of 
the  people.  Officers  of  the  United  States  are  those  included 
in  the  executive  departments  of  the  Government  and  those 
under  executive  appointment,  such  as  the  judges  of  the  United 
States  courts.  The  penalty  for  misconduct  on  the  part  of  a 
member  of  Congress  is  not  impeachment  but  censure  or 
expulsion.  In  1798  Senator  Blount  of  Tennessee  was  expelled 
from  the  Senate  while  his  impeachment  was  pending.  He 
then  pleaded  that  the  Senate  had  no  jurisdiction,  and  this 
plea  was  sustained  by  the  Senate  and  the  impeachment  case 
was  dismissed.  This  merely  decided  that  a  senator  who 
had  been  expelled  was  not  subject  to  impeachment.  But  it 
is  held  that  to  impeach  a  legislative  officer  for  his  official 
acts  "is  repugnant  to  the  nature  of  the  office  itself."  ^ 

Why  the  Senate  has  Succeeded 

Mr.  Bryce  has  given  the  following  reasons  why  the  American 
Senate  has  proved  a  worthy  and  honorable  body: 

1.  //  is  representative.  It  is  elective  and  popular,  not 
hereditary.  The  senators  may  now  be  said  to  represent  the 
people  just  as  much  as  the  members  of  the  lower  house. 

2.  //  is  convenient  in  size.  A  small  body  educates  its  mem- 
bers better  than  a  large  one,  can  act  together  better,  and 
each  member  has  a  keener  sense  of  his  own  responsibility. 

3.  The  permanence  of  the  Senate  and  the  length  of  the  term. 
This  has  promoted  the  intellectual  abiHty  of  its  members. 
It  is  a  more  attractive  body  for  able  and  ambitious  men. 
Members  of  the  house,  governors,  and  other  political  State 
leaders  look  toward  achieving  a  seat  in  the  Senate.  The 
lower  house  is  sometimes  regarded  as  a  political  stepping  stone 
to  the  upper  house. 

4.  //  is  not  subject  to  rapid  fluctuations  of  opinion.     The 

^  Wharton's  State  Trials,  cited  by  Foster  on  the  Constitution,  p.  317. 


270  THE   CITIZEN  AND  THE   REPUBLIC 

Senate  thus  forms  a  bulwark  against  popular  excitements  and 
agitations.  The  Senate  may  better  appreciate  the  importance 
of  continuity  in  policy.  The  majority  of  the  senators  always 
have  four  more  years  to  serve  and  public  feehng  is  likely  to 
change  in  that  time,  and  a  policy  unpopular  at  the  start  may 
grow  into  popularity  before  it  can  be  upset.  So  the  Senate 
is  able  to  fulfill  one  of  the  three  great  functions  of  its  creation, 
restraint  of  impulsive  and  hasty  legislation  and  appealing  to 
the  sober  second  thought  of  the  nation. 

TOPICS   AND    QUERIES 

1.  Why  is  it  thought  a  greater  honor  to  be  a  member  of  the  Senate  than 

of  the  House? 

2.  Would  it  be  constitutional  for   the   President   to   make   the  Vice 

President  a  member  of  the  Cabinet?     What  would  be  the  advan- 
tage of  doing  so? 

3.  Why  should  Nevada  with  about  80,000  inhabitants  have  as  many 

representatives   in   the   Senate   as    New    York   with    10,000,000 
inhabitants?     How  did  such  unequal  representation  come  about? 

4.  How  would  you  remedy  abuses  arising  from  the  "courtesy  of  the 

Senate "? 

5.  Should  all  secret  sessions  of  the  Senate  be  abandoned?     Why? 

6.  How  did  the  Senate  come  to  have  treaty-making  and  diplomatic 

functions? 

REFERENCES 

Read  from  Reinsch's  Readings  on  American  Federal  Government,  Chaps. 
IV,  V.  These  contain  reproductions  of  good  articles  in  periodi- 
cals. Consult  the  Reader's  Guide  to  Periodical  Literature  for 
other  articles.     Use  the  authorities  given  at  the  close  of  Chap.  XII. 


CHAPTER  XV 
THE  HOUSE 

Congress,  as  we  all  know,  consists  of  two  houses,  the 
Senate  and  the  House  of  Representatives.  The  House 
of  Representatives  is  called  the  House,  for  short.  It  will  Congress:  The 
be  remembered  from  the  history  of  the  Old  Confederation  between  the 
(i 781-1787)  that  the  Congress  under  our  first  constitution  Two  Houses 
consisted  of  only  one  house.  To  that  old  Congress  a  State 
might  send  as  many  as  seven  representatives,  if  it  chose,  or 
as  few  as  two,  but  each  State  had  only  one  vote.  If  a  State 
had  only  two  representatives  present  and  these  two  could  not 
agree,  the  State  lost  its  vote.  All  questions  were  decided  by 
States.  In  the  convention  of  1787  when  the  new  Constitution 
was  being  made,  some  of  the  longest  and  most  heated  dis- 
cussions were  over  the  question  of  representation.  Should 
the  States  continue  to  have  an  equal  vote,  that  is,  equal 
power,  in  the  new  Congress?  The  small  States  wished  equal 
representation,  the  large  States  proportional  representation. 
Since  all  had  agreed  that  there  should  be  two  houses  in  the  new 
Congress,  a  compromise  was  arranged  by  which  the  small 
States  should  be  given  an  equal  vote  with  the  large  States  in 
the  Senate,  while  in  the  house  the  States  should  be  represented 
according  to  population.  This  plan  allows  Nevada  with  a 
population  of  about  80,000  as  much  power  in  the  United 
States  Senate  as  New  York  with  a  population  of  nearly  10,000,- 
000,  while  in  the  House  New  York  has  forty-three  votes  and 
Nevada  only  one.  According  to  the  democratic  representative 
principle  equal  numbers  of  people  should  have  equal  power 
and  unequal  numbers  of  people  should  have  unequal  power. 
One  hundred  thousand  people  should  have  more  weight  in 

271 


272  THE   CITIZEN   AND  THE   REPUBLIC 

government  and  law-making  than  one  thousand  people;  ten 
men  should  count  for  more  than  one.  So  the  compromise 
plan  for  our  two  houses  of  Congress  made  the  Senate  not  a 
democratic,  but  a  federal,  body  where  statehood  decides,  as 
under  the  Old  Confederation,  while  the  House  is  a  more 
democratic  national  body  where  people  are  represented  in 
proportion  to  numbers. 

Apportionment  of  Representatives 

In  order  that  each  State  may  be  allotted  its  share  of  repre- 
sentatives in  the  House  the  Constitution  provides  that  every 
ten  years  a  national  census  shall  be  taken.  After  every 
census  it  is  the  duty  of  Congress  to  determine  how  many 
members  there  shall  be  in  the  House  of  Representatives  and 
Decennial  j-q  ^Hot  to  each  State  the  share  to  which  its  population  entitles 

Apportionment       .  ...  ,  ,,  .  .  *         ti       rr-vi         i 

Acts  it.     This   is   done    by  an      Apportionment   Act.        Ihe  last 

Apportionment  Act  of  August  8,  191 1,  fixed  the  membership 
of  the  House  at  435  and  provided  that  if  New  Mexico  and 
Arizona  became  States  before  another  census  were  taken  they 
should  have  one  representative  each.  These  States  have 
since  been  admitted  and  the  House  now  consists  of  435  mem- 
bers. The  number  435  was  fixed  upon  because  that  was  the 
lowest  number  that  would  prevent  any  State  from  losing  a 
representative.  Dividing  the  whole  population  of  the  country 
by  435  a  ratio  of  211,  977  for  each  representative  was  obtained. 
So  there  is  one  representative  for  (almost)  every  212,000  of 
the  population.  The  population  of  each  State  is  then  divided 
by  the  ratio  and  one  representative  is  assigned  for  each  full 
ratio  and  one  for  each  major  fraction. 

Neither  Delaware,  Nevada,  nor  Wyoming,  has  a  popula- 
tion equal  to  211,977,  but  two  of  them,  Delaware  and  Wyo- 
ming, have  each  more  than  half  the  ratio  (a  major  fraction), 
while  Nevada,  though  having  less  than  a  major  fraction  of 
the  ratio,  gets  a  member,  because  the  Constitution  provides 
that  each  State  shall  have  at  least  one  representative. 


THE  HOUSE 


273 


The  Apportionment  Act  of  Congress  provides  that  the 
representatives  of  each  State  shall  be  elected  in  districts 
"  composed  of  contiguous  and  compact  territory  and  containing  The 
as  nearly  as  practicable  an  equal  number  of  inhabitants."  Gerrymander 
While  a  Congressional  District  should  have  approximately 
212,000  people,  it  is  not  possible  to  make  the  districts  exactly 
equal  in  numbers.  In 
many  States  the  districts 
are  very  unfairly  laid  out 
by  "gerrymanders." 

As  we  have  noticed,  it 
is  the  business  of  the 
State  legislature  to  lay 
out  the  districts  from 
which  the  representatives 
are  to  be  elected.  Gerry- 
mandering^ is  the  process 
of  laying  out  the  districts 
in  such  a  way  as  to  give 
to  a  political  party  an 
unfair  advantage,  by  en- 
abling the  party  to  carry  more  districts  than  its  party  vote 
entitles  it  to.  This  is  done  by  "throwing  the  greatest  pos- 
sible number  of  hostile  voters  into  a  district  which  is  certain 


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A  Gerrymandered  State 

An  early  gerrymander  in  South  Carolina. 
Note  the  irregular  shape  of  the  districts. 


iThe  term  "gerrymander"  is  derived  from  the  name  of  Elbridge 
Gerry,  of  Massachusetts,  who  was  Vice  President  of  the  United  States 
from  1813  to  1814.  In  181 2,  while  Gerry  was  Governor  of  Massa- 
chusetts, his  party  (RepubUcan)  redistricted  the  State,  laying  out  the 
districts  in  such  a  way  that  the  shapes  of  the  towns  forming  a  single 
district  in  Essex  county  gave  the  district  a  dragon-like  shape.  This 
was  indicated  upon  a  map  of  Massachusetts  which  a  Federalist  editor 
had  hung  up  over  his  office  desk.  The  celebrated  painter,  Gilbert 
Stuart,  coming  into  the  editor's  office  one  day  and  observing  the 
uncouth  figure,  added  with  his  pencil  a  head,  wings,  and  claws,  and 
exclaimed,  "That  will  do  for  a  salamander."  "Better  say  a  Gerry- 
mander," growled  the  editor,  and  the  name  has  found  a  permanent 
place  in  our  language. 


l-JA 


THE  CITIZEN   AND  THE   REPUBLIC 


Legal 

Difficulties  to 
Gerryman- 
dering 


to  be  hostile  and  by  adding  to  a  district  where  parties 
are  evenly  divided  a  place  in  which  the  majority  of 
friendly  voters  is  sufficient  to  turn  the  scale."  That  is, 
the  gerrymandering  party  will  arrange  the  districts  so  that 
it  may  carry  as  many  as  possible  by  safe  majorities,  while  it 
will  seek  to  mass  the  opposing  party  votes  and  allow  them 
to  carry  a  few  districts  by  large  majorities.  It  coops  up  the 
opposing  votes  in  as  few  districts  as  possible. 

There  are  two  legal  impediments  in  the  way  of  gerry- 
mandering. First,  the  districts  must  "be  composed  of  con- 
tiguous territory,"  and,  second,  they  "shall  contain  as  nearly 
as  practicable  an  equal  number  of  inhabitants."  These 
restrictions  are  imposed  by  the  apportionment  acts  of  Con- 
gress. The  gerrymander  disregards  both  of  these  requirements 
illegally.  The  districts  are  made  very  unequal  in  numbers 
and  they  are  distorted  in  shape  by  uniting  counties  out  of  their 
natural  position.  One  district  may  be  made  to  contain 
60,000  voters,  or  300,000  people,  another  may  have  only 
30,000  voters,  or  150,000  people,  —  which  violates  the  prin- 
ciple of  fair  and  equal  representation.  One  New  York  district 
was  made  to  contain  only  165,000  inhabitants,  while  an  oppos- 
ing district  was  made  so  large  that  it  contained  450,000 
inhabitants.     It  is  political  trickery  of  the  worst  kind. 

Many  examples  of  irregularly  shaped  districts  have  been 
cited,  —  the  "shoe-string  districts"  in  Missouri  and  Missis- 
sippi, very  long  and  narrow;  the  "saddle  bag  district"  in 
Illinois,  comprising  two  groups  of  counties  at  different  sides  of 
the  State  so  connected  as  to  crowd  as  many  opposition  counties 
as  possible  into  one  district;  the  "belt-Hne  district,"  running 
around  Chicago;  and  the  "dumb-bell  district,"  in  Pennsylvania. 
These  indicate  some  of  the  freakish  shapes  that  have  been  made 
out  of  the  districts  in  order  to  make  sure  of  the  right  party 
majority.  Both  parties  practice  this  political  trickery  and 
they  apply  it  to  the  States  to  secure  control  of  the  legislature 
as  well  as  to  elect  an  unfair  number  of  Congressmen. 


THE   HOUSE  275 

Election  of  Representatives 

Prior  to  1842  a  State  was  permitted  to  elect  all  of  its  repre- 
sentatives to  Congress  on  a  common  ticket  as  we  now  elect 
presidential  electors;  that  is,  all  the  Congressmen  from  a  ll^'^H^^^f^^^ 
State  might  be  elected  at  large,  if  the  State  desired  it;  so  if  Districts 
a  party  carried  the  State  it  got  all  the  Congressmen  from 
that  State  and  the  other  party  got  none.  Congress  may 
at  any  time  make  or  alter  the  regulations  for  electing  repre- 
sentatives, and  in  1842,  owing  to  a  contest  over  the  five 
members  elected  at  large  from  New  Jersey,  Congress  passed 
an  act  requiring  the  States  to  elect  by  districts.  Each  State 
has  as  many  districts  as  it  has  representatives  and  no  district 
can  elect  more  than  one  representative.  In  case  of  an  increase 
in  a  State's  representatives  after  a  new  census  the  additional 
Congressmen  may  be  elected  by  the  "State  at  large,"  until 
the  State  can  be  redistricted.  It  is  the  duty  of  the  State 
legislature  to  redistrict  the  State  at  its  first  session  following 
the  apportionment.  These  representatives  are  known  as 
"Congressmen  at  large"  and  the  present  act  requires  that 
they  shall  be  "nominated  in  the  same  manner  as  the  candi- 
dates for  Governor,  unless  otherwise  provided  by  the  laws 
of  the  State."  This  secures  to  the  people  of  a  State  who 
have  adopted  the  primary  nominating  system  the  use  of  that 
system  in  naming  their  Congressmen  at  large. 

Members  of  the  House  are  elected  by  a  direct  vote  of 
the  people.  Any  one  may  vote  for  a  representative  who  is 
entitled  by  his  State  law  to  vote  for  members  of  the  lower 
house  (the  more  numerous  branch)  of  his  State  legislature,  j^gp^ggg^t^y^es 
In  some  States  women  may  vote  for  members  of  Congress  are  elected 
and  for  the  President,  while  in  other  States  all  women  and 
many  men  over  twenty-one  are  denied  the  privilege  of 
voting.  It  all  depends  on  the  law  of  the  State,  though  by 
the  fifteenth  amendment  no  State  may  prevent  men  from 
\  oting  on  account  of  their  race  or  color. 


How 


276 


THE   CITIZEN   AND  THE   REPUBLIC 


Congress 
regulates  the 
Election   of   its 
own  Members 


Qualifications 
of  Repre- 
sentatives 


The 

Congressional 

Term 


A  State  may  limit  the  right  of  its  adult  male  citizens  to  vote 
by  imposing  an  educational  or  property  qualification  for  the 
suffrage  or  any  other  reasonable  c[ualification,  but  if  a  State 
does  so  restrict  its  suffrage,  then,  as  is  provided  by  the  four- 
teenth amendment,  its  representation  in  Congress  shall  be 
proportionately  reduced,  but  this  provision  of  the  Constitution 
has  never  been  enforced  nor  is  it  likely  to  be  enforced.^ 

The  Constitution  provides  that  Congress  may  at  any  time 
by  law  make  or  alter  the  regulations  touching  the  times, 
places,  and  manner  of  holding  Congressional  elections.  In 
accordance  with  this  provision  Congress  in  1842,  as  we  have 
seen,  provided  for  election  by  districts.  In  187 1  Congress 
enacted  a  law  providing  that  its  members  should  be  chosen 
by  written  or  printed  ballots,  and  in  1872  a  law  of  Congress 
required  that  all  representatives  should  be  elected  on  the 
same  day  throughout  the  Union,  namely,  on  the  first  Tuesday 
after  the  first  Monday  in  November.  Later  those  States 
were  exempted  from  the  uniform  election  day  whose  con- 
stitutions provided  a  different  day  for  electing  their  repre- 
sentatives. Maine  and  Vermont  still  elect  Congressmen  in 
September,  and  Oregon  elects  hers  in  June. 

Qualifications,  Privileges,  etc.,  of  Representatives 

A  representative  in  Congress  must  be  at  least  twenty-five 
years  old,  he  must  have  been  for  seven  years  a  citizen  of  the 
United  States,  and  he  must  be,  at  the  time  of  his  election, 
an  inhabitant  of  the  State  from  which  he  is  chosen.  He  is 
elected  for  a  term  of  two  years.  The  term  begins  on  the 
4th  of  March  in  the  odd  numbered  years,  though  a  newly 
elected  Congress  does  not  meet  (unless  the  President  calls  it 
into  extra  session)  until  December,  fully  thirteen  months  after 
the  November  election  in  which  the  members  were  chosen. 
The  salaries  of  members  begin  with  the  4th  of  March.  It 
seems  that  the  long  delay  of  more  than  a  year  between  the 
^  On  the  suffrage  see  p.  10. 


THE  HOUSE 


277 


Sessions  of 
Congress 


election  of  a  new  Congress  and  its  meeting  ought  to  be  avoided 
and  that  a  Congress  elected  in  November  ought  to  meet  not 
later  than  the  following  January.  This  would  enable  Con- 
gress to  carry  out  promptly  any  pohcy  which  the  country 
may  have  declared  for. 

There  are  two  regular  sessions  of  every  Congress,  each 
beginning  on  the  first  Monday  in  December.  The  first,  or 
"long  session"  may  last  well  into  the  following  summer. 
The  "short  session"  (from  December  to  March)  must  close 
at  high  noon  on  March  4th  of  the  odd  numbered  years.  It 
sometimes  happens  when  Congress  is  rushed  in  the  closing 
hours  of  the  short  session  that  the  sergeant-at-arms  turns 
back  the  clock  to  give  the  House  more  time  to  finish  its  business. 
If  an  old  Congress  expires  with  important  or  necessary  business 
unattended  to  the  President  may  call  an  early  extra  session 
of  the  new  Congress.  In  this  way  under  President  Wilson 
the  63d  Congress  was  kept  in  session  for  nearly  a  year  at  a 
stretch. 

The  law  does  not  require  that  a  representative  shall  reside  ^^^^^^^^^^ 
in  the  district  from  which  he  is  elected,  but  custom  has  made  required  by 
it  so  by  a  law  of  the  "unwritten  constitution,"  and  we  seldom,  Unwritten  Law 
if  ever,  find  a  man  running  for  Congress  who  does  not  live  in 
the  district  from  which  he  seeks  election.  This  custom  of 
requiring  members  of  Congress  to  live  in  their  districts 
has  been  much  criticized.  The  English  custom  is  different. 
There  able  men  from  the  cities  may  represent  country  dis- 
tricts, or  country  gentlemen  may  be  sent  to  Parhament  from 
a  city  constituency.  Mr.  Gladstone,  who  Hved  in  Wales, 
represented  a  Scotch  constituency  for  many  years,  and  he 
might  have  been  elected  from  Cork  in  Ireland.  An  im- 
portant leader  in  America  may  be  "gerrymandered"  out  of 
Congress  if  the  opposition  party  gets  control  of  his  State 
legislature.  This  could  not  happen  in  Great  Britain.  There, 
if  a  great  party  leader  were  likely  to  be  defeated  in  his  own 
district,  he  could  "stand"  for  election  in  some  other  district 


278 


THE   CITIZEN   AND  THE   REPUBLIC 


English  Idea 

of 

Representation 


Salaries 


where  his  party  had  a  safe  majority;  or  he  might  be  elected 
for  two  or  three  districts  at  once.  He  would  then  accept 
for  the  constituency  which  his  party  would  have  the  greatest 
difficulty  in  carrying  and  let  other  candidates  of  his  party 
stand  for  election  in  the  other  districts  (constituencies). 

In  England  the  election  lasts  for  a  week  or  more,  since  a  man 
has  a  right  to  vote  in  as  many  places  as  he  has  property,  and 
he  is  given  time  to  get  around.  In  England  the  people  think 
of  a  member  of  Parliament  as  a  representative  not  of  a  district 
or  of  a  particular  locality  but  of  the  whole  nation,  and  it  is 
claimed  that  the  American  district  system  tends  to  make  the 
representative  narrow  in  his  views  and  to  lead  him  to  try 
merely  "to  get  things"  to  carry  home  for  his  district, — 
pensions,  public  buildings,  river  and  harbor  appropriations, 
etc.,  —  called  a  share  of  the  "pork  barrel"  in  political  slang, 
instead  of  playing  the  part  of  a  national  statesman  with  a  view 
to  the  welfare  of  the  whole  country.  However,  the  system 
of  local  representation  is  thoroughly  established  in  America. 
It  began  in  the  colonies  and  it  was  upheld  by  the  defenders 
of  the  American  Revolution  when  they  were  told  that  America 
had  "virtual  representation"  in  Parliament  through  men  who 
did  not  live  among  them.  In  a  large  and  diversified  country 
of  varied  interests,  it  may  be  better  that  different  and  widely 
separated  localities  should  be  represented  from  among  their 
own  people,  and  the  representative  be  thus  held  more  directly 
responsible  to  his  constituents. 

The  salary  of  a  representative,  as  also  of  a  senator,  is  now 
$7500.  Each  member  is  allowed  also  $1200  a  year  for  a 
secretary,  $125  a  year  for  stationery,  and  mileage  of  twenty 
cents  a  mile  in  going  and  returning  by  the  shortest  route 
between  his  home  and  Washington  City.  Congress  may  deter- 
mine the  amount  of  the  pay  to  be  given  to  its  members.  It 
is  restrained  only  by  public  opinion  and  its  own  sense  of  duty 
and    propriety. 

If  a  vacancy  occurs  in  the  House  by  the  death,  resignation, 


THE   HOUSE  279 

or  expulsion  of  a  member,  the  Governor  of  his  State  must 
issue  a  writ  for  an  election  in  the  member's  district.  This  is 
done  without  much  delay  and  a  special  election  is  held. 

All  members  have,  in  theory,  the  privilege  of  free  speech    Vacancies; 

•'  ^  °  '■  Disabilities  of 

and  free  debate  (limited  by  the  rules  of  the  House)  and  free-  Members 
dom  from  arrest  (except  in  cases  of  treason,  felony  or  breach 
of  the  peace).  It  would  not  do  to  have  a  member  prevented 
from  attending,  speaking,  or  voting  in  the  House  by  his  arrest 
on  some  charges  that  might  be  trumped  up  for  just  such  a 
purpose. 

No  member  of  Congress,  either  senator  or  representative, 
may  hold  any  civil  office  of  the  United  States  during  his  con- 
gressional term,  nor  may  he  be  appointed  to  any  office  which 
has  been  created  or  the  salary  of  which  has  been  increased 
during  his  term.  This  is  to  prevent  members  from  seeking 
to  create  offices  or  make  others  more  lucrative,  with  a  view 
to  their  own  appointment  thereto. 

That  members  might  vote  measures  in  favor  of  themselves 
was  greatly  feared  as  a  soujce  of  corruption  by  the  framers 
of  the  Constitution.  The  e^rly  feeling  was  that  members  of 
Congress  ought  not  even  to  aspire  to  existing  offices  which  their 
influence  and  position  in  Congress  might  help  them  to  obtain. 
In  1825,  when  Jackson  became  a  candidate  for  the  presidency, 
he  resigned  his  seat  in  the  Senate  for  fear  it  might  be  thought 
he  would  use  his  senatorial  position  to  promote  his  candidacy. 
Oftentimes  members  of  Congress  who  have  been  defeated  for 
reelection  are  appointed  to  lucrative  offices  by  the  President 
for  party  or  personal  reasons.  After  being  "retired  "from  public 
life  by  their  constituents  they  are  "taken  care  of"  by  their 
party  chief.     These  are  called  the  "lame  ducks"  of  politics. 

Officers  of  the  House 

The  chief  officers  of  the  House  are  the  Speaker,  the  Clerk, 
Sergeant-at-arms,  Door-keeper,  Postmaster,  and  Chaplain. 
The  Clerk,  with  his  assistants  and  stenographers,  keeps  the 


280 


THE   CITIZEN   AND  THE   REPUBLIC 


How  the 
Oflacers  of  the 
House  are 
elected : 
Party 
Caucuses 


rolls  and  records  of  the  House.  The  clerk  of  the  former 
House  presides  while  the  new  House  is  being  organized  and 
a  Speaker  elected.  The  Clerk  makes  up  the  roll  of  the  newly 
elected  House.  In  case  of  a  contest  he  is  not  to  decide  what 
name  shall  go  on  the  preliminary  roll,  but  he  always  places 
on  the  roll  the  names  of  those  holding  the  official  State  certifi- 
cates of  election.  After  the  House  is  organized  by  the  election 
of  its  officers  the  House  itself  decides  (upon  the  report  of  its 
judiciary  committee)  what  contestants  have  been  duly  elected 
and  are  entitled  to  their  seats. 

The  House  elects  its  own  officers.  This  election  is  a  matter 
of  form,  as  the  real  election  has  already  been  made  by  the 
majority  party  at  its  caucus.  The  representatives  of  each 
party  have  a  meeting  called  a  caucus  in  which  they  nominate 
a  list  of  House  officers  to  be  voted  for  when  the  House  meets 
to  organize.  The  rule  of  the  caucus  is  that  those  who  partici- 
pate in  its  proceedings  must  support  its  decisions  in  the  open 
House.  So  the  House  has  always  elected  the  candidates 
selected  by  the  caucus  of  the  majority  party. 

The  man  put  forward  for  Speaker  by  the  minority  caucus 
is  always  recognized  as  the  minority  leader  on  the  floor.  He 
directs  his  party  followers  in  ''playing  the  poUtical  game"  or 
in  trying  to  put  the  majority  "in  the  hole"  as  to  pending 
legislation,  or  attempting  in  other  ways  to  get  political  advan- 
tage for  his  party  in  the  opinion  of  the  country  at  large. 
The  majority  leader  on  the  floor  is  the  chairman  of  the 
Ways  and  Means  Committee.  He,  together  with  the  Speaker 
and  the  Committee  on  Rules  ("steering  committee"),  guides 
the  business,  debates,  and  deliberations  of  the  House,  seeks 
to  circumvent  the  minority  in  any  obstructive  tactics  its  leader 
may  adopt,  and  brings  the  House  to  decision  and  'action. 

The  Speaker  is  the  most  important  officer  of  the  House. 
The  title  "Speaker"  comes  from  England,  from  the  time  when 
this  officer  served  as  spokesman  of  the  Commons  when  that 
body  wished  to  address  the  king.     In    the    Commons  the 


THE   HOUSE 


281 


Speaker  is  not  a  party  officer  but  merely  an  impartial  mod- 
erator of  the  House,  like  the  Vice  President  in  the  Senate,  to 
observe  the  decorum  of  the  House  and  to  hold  an  even  hand 
between  parties.  It  is  said  the  Speaker  "forgets  to  what 
party  he  belongs"  when  he  leaves  the  benches  of  the  Com- 
mons to  take  the  Speaker's  chair,  and  the  same  Speaker  is 
often  continued  even  through  changes  of  party  control  in  the 
Commons. 

In  America  it  is  quite  different,  the  Speaker  being  a  party 
leader  and  being  expected  to  give  the  advantage  to  his  own  side 
where  it  can  be  done  with  reasonable  partisan  fairness.  His 
powers  are  not  so  great  as  in  former  years,  but  he  is  still 
the  most  important  legislative  officer  in  America,  and,  next 
to  the  President,  the  most  important  man  in  public  life. 
Formerly  he  had  full  power  to  appoint  the  committees  of  the 
house  and  to  name  the  chairman  of  each  committee,  and  as 
nearly  all  legislation  was  decided  on  in  these  committees 
(the  house  acting  in  harmony  with  their  reports),  this  gave  to 
the  Speaker  almost  autocratic  control  over  legislation.  If 
the  Speaker  favored  a  certain  measure  or  policy  he  saw  to  it 
that  the  committee  having  the  matter  in  charge  was  made  up 
to  promote  that  end;  if  he  opposed  a  pending  policy  he  made 
up  a  committee  unfavorable  to  it. 

Another  source  of  the  Speaker's  power  came  from  his  po- 
sition as  chairman  of  the  Committee  on  Rules.  This  is  a 
"privileged  committee,"  having  the  privilege  of  reporting 
a  special  rule  for  a  special  order  at  any  time,  by  which  the 
House  stops  for  a  time  considering  the  business  before  it 
and  takes  up  other  business  which  the  Committee  on  Rules 
wishes  to  bring  before  it  for  passage.  Its  purpose  is  to  ex- 
pedite business,  prevent  debate,  and  to  bring  the  House  to 
act  on  those  measures  upon  which  the  Speaker  and  the  party 
Leaders  wish  to  have  it  act.  The  Committee  on  Rules  is 
therefore  an  all-powerful  steering  committee  with  power  to 
direct  the  order  of  business  for  the  House. 


The  Speaker 
and  his 
Power 


Former 
Sources  of  the 
Speaker's 
Power 


282 


THE   CITIZEN  AND  THE   REPUBLIC 


Curtailment  of 
the  Speaker's 
Powers  in  1911 


Present 
Powers  of  the 
Speaker 


In  191 1,  after  some  years  of  agitation  against  the  growing 
"one-man  power,"  of  the  Speaker  and  in  answer  to  a  public 
demand  for  more  popular  control  over  legislation,  the  entire 
committee  system  and  the  House  rules  were  reorganized. 
The  first  step  was  that  the  power  of  naming  the  committees 
was  transferred  to  the  House  itself.  The  real  power  of  selec- 
tion, however,  rests  with  the  party  caucus.  The  caucus  of 
the  majority  party  elects  the  majority  members  of  the  im- 
portant committee  of  Ways  and  Means  and  then  makes  that 
committee  a  Committee  on  Committees  to  select  the  other 
majority  members  of  the  various  committees.  The  Speaker 
was  also  deprived  of  his  membership  in  the  Committee  on 
Rules,  which  the  caucus  now  selects.  Its  membership  was 
increased  from  five  to  ten  members,  elected,  four  by  the 
minority  and  six  by  the  majority. 

So  now  by  the  caucus  instead  of  by  the  Speaker  the  control 
of  the  House  is  put  into  the  hands  of  a  very  few  men.  The 
minority  party  caucus  is  allowed  to  select  their  members  on 
the  committees,  the  majority  party  in  the  House  always 
having  a  majority  on  each  committee.  This  is  necessary  in 
order  to  expedite  or  control  the  business  of  the  House  and  to 
prevent  the  opposition  minority  from  obstructing  legislation, 
and  it  is  thought  that  the  party  caucus  represents  popular 
action  more  than  the  old  system  of  control  by  the  Speaker 
and  his  Committee  on  Rules. 

In  spite  of  this  curtailment  of  his  powers,  the  Speaker  still 
wields  the  strongest  influence  in  legislation.  He  presides 
over  the  proceedings  of  the  House,  refers  bills  to  committees, 
and  in  general  is  the  leader  of  his  party  in  the  House.  In  pre- 
siding over  debates,  he  recognizes  whom  he  will.  The  Speaker 
usually  arranges  with  the  floor  leaders  of  the  respective  par- 
ties that  the  floor  is  to  be  assigned  to  members  in  a  certain 
order  and  for  certain  purposes.  But  in  a  general,  promis- 
cuous debate,  the  Speaker  can  and  does  select  those  men  for 
recognition  who  will  voice  the  sentiments  which  he  wishes  to 


11^ ^ 

\>'-^     1 

.L-^*^-  ^^- 

1-^  ♦ 

A  Congressional  Committee  in  Session 

Secretary  of  the  Navy,  Daniels  testifying  before  the  House  of  Representatives 

Naval  Committee. 


'  Office  Building,  House  of  Representatives 

This  building  is  opposite  the  House  of  Representatives  wing  of  the    Capitol. 
Each  representative  has  an  office  and  there  are  rooms  for  committee  meetings. 


THE  HOUSE  283 

have  expressed.  Therefore,  the  Speaker  can  not  only  protect 
his  own  party  from  defeat  and  delay,  but  within  his  party  he 
can  strengthen  and  develop  that  group  of  men  which  he  favors. 

The  party  "Whip"  in  Congress  is  one  of  the  lieutenants, 
or  aids,  who  helps  the  organized  leaders  in  conducting  the 
party  business  and  in  securing  the  passage  of  measures  in  which 
the  party  is  interested.  He  may  be  one  of  the  principal 
leaders  who  acts,  in  a  way,  as  a  "go-between"  between  the 
party  organization  of  the  house  and  the  party  members. 
The  "Whip"  is  an  English  term  and  indicates  an  important  "^^^  "Whip" 
party  officer  in  the  Commons.  There  the  "Whip"  is  expected 
(i)  to  inform  members  on  Cabinet,  or  Government,  business; 
to  explain  to  them  the  merits  of  a  measure,  and  to  tell  them  how 
to  vote  if  from  absence  or  inattention  they  are  ignorant  of  the 
business  in  hand;  (2)  to  "keep  a  house,"  that  is,  a  quorum, 
ready  to  pass  Government  bills  when  they  come  up.  They  are 
to  make  sure  that  the  party  majority  are  at  hand  ready  to 
pass  the  party  measures;  (3)  to  act  as  tellers,  or  to  count  mem- 
bers when  they  pass  by  on  a  vote  or  a  division;  (4)  to  obtain 
pairs  for  party  members,  when  they  cannot  be  present,  during 
a  vote;  (5)  to  keep  himself  informed  of  party  opinion  in 
the  house  and  to  inform  the  leader  to  what  extent  he  may 
depend  upon  party  support. 

While  the  functions  of  the  American  "Whip"  are  not  so 
clearly  defined  he  performs  most  of  these  duties. 

The  Committee  System  of  the  House 

The  rules  and  order  of  procedure  of  the  House  are  too 
complicated  for  consideration  here.  They  are  to  be  under- 
stood only  by  observation  or  experience  in  the  House,  and  not 
always  then,  as  they  are  the  result  of  years  of  precedent  and 
custom.  A  general  explanation  may  be  given  of  the  House 
committee  system  in  legislation.  There  are  over  fifty  regular 
standing  committees  in  the  house,  and  special  committees 
are  frequently  appointed.     Each  of  these  committees  takes 


284  THE   CITIZEN   AND  THE   REPUBLIC 

into  consideration  the  bills  or  measures  assigned  to  it,  every 
bill  going  before  a  committee  before  it  is  considered  by  the 
House,  unless  the  rules  should  be  suspended  and  the  bill  should 
be  put  upon  its  passage  for  some  very  unusual  reason,  and 
even  then  the  chairman  of  the  proper  committee  would  report 
it  as  having  been  already  considered.  Sometimes  there  is 
rivalry  between  two  committees  for  the  control  of  a  bill. 
The  Speaker  decides  to  which  committee  it  shall  go,  unless  he 
is  overruled  by  the  House. 

Committee  meetings  for  the  consideration  of  a  bill  have 
usually  been  in  secret,  though  "open  hearings"  may  be 
allowed  at  which  those  interested  may  appear  before  the 
committee  to  advocate  or  oppose  the  measure.  In  recent  years 
there  has  been  an  increasing  demand  for  full  publicity  in 
committee  proceedings,  since  the  fate  of  a  measure  is  usually 
decided  in  the  committee  and  it  is  right  that  the  influences 
brought  to  bear  in  committee  should  be  known  to  the  public 
and  that  a  member's  constituents  should  know  how  he  votes 
and  acts  toward  a  measure,  not  only  in  the  open  House  but  also 
in  the  committee,  where  his  vote  and  influence  may  be  much 
more  important.  A  committee  may  "smother  a  bill"  by  re- 
fusing to  "report  it  out,"  and  give  the  members  of  the  House 
a  chance  to  pass  it;  or  it  may  amend  a  bill  or  report  a  substi- 
tute. If  the  majority  of  the  House  is  determined  to  consider 
or  pass  a  bill  which  a  committee  is  "smothering,"  it  may  order 
the  committee  to  report,  and  the  committee  would  have  to 
obey  the  mandate  of  the  House,  but  recourse  to  this  process  is 
seldom.  Committee  leaders  are  disposed  to  stand  by  one 
another  in  the  exercise  of  their  prerogatives. 

When,   after   due    consideration,   a   committee   decides   to 

report  a  measure  for  passage  the  House  can  have  but  a  very 

short  time   to  discuss  or  consider  it,  there  being  so  many 

measures  pressing  for  attention.     This  leads  other  members 

How  not  on  the  committee  having  the  bill  in  charge  to  vote   in 

coMiittees        ^^^^^  ^^  ^^^  committee's  recommendation.     The  others  have 


THE   HOUSE  285 

been  busy  with  their  own  lines  of  committee  work  in  legisla- 
tion, and  they  assume  that  the  committee  in  charge  is 
better  informed  on  the  matter  of  the  bill  and  have  fully  and 
honestly  considered  it  and  have  come  to  the  best  conclusion. 
In  any  case  they  are  likely  to  vote  for  the  measure  and  throw 
the  responsibility  for  its  passage  upon  the  committee.  As  a 
rule  there  can  be  but  little  discussion  in  the  House,  perhaps 
only  two  hours  being  allowed  for  debate.  The  chairman  of 
the  committee  having  the  bill  in  charge  gives  an  outline  of 
the  measure,,  explains  it,  and  summarizes  some  brief  reasons  for 
its  passage.  A  few  members  may  be  allowed  to  speak  for  or 
against  it,  if  they  can  arrange  with  the  Speaker  and  the  floor 
leader  for  recognition.  The  House  goes  on  the  theory  that 
it  is  not  a  talking  body  but  a  deciding  body  and  that  it 
must  approve  or  reject  the  conclusions  of  its  committees. 

It  is  not  possible  here  to  describe  fully  the  work  of  the 
various  committees  of  the  House.  The  major  committees 
are  the  Committees  on  Ways  and  Means,  on  Appropria- 
tions, on  Commerce,  Rivers  and  Harbors,  Postal  Affairs, 
Naval  Affairs,  Military  Affairs,  Invalid  Pensions,  etc. 

The  chief  business  of  the  Ways  and  Means  Committee  is 
to  devise  "ways  and  means"  of  raising  money.     This  is  the    Ways  and 

1-      1        TT  T  1      •  •        Means 

most  important  committee  of  the  House.  Its  chairman  is  committee 
the  leader  of  the  majority  party  on  the  floor,  ranking  next  to 
the  Speaker.  Revenue  bills  originate  in  this  committee,  though 
it  may  decide  to  approve  a  money  bill  recommended  by  the 
Secretary  of  the  Treasury.  The  report  of  the  Secretary  of  the 
Treasury  is  referred  to  this  committee,  but  the  committee  is 
not  bound  either  by  law  or  custom  to  base  its  bills  and  measures 
on  this  report.  It  would  seem  that  in  originating  and  pre- 
senting bills  to  determine  how  much  money  should  be  raised, 
the  committee  ought  to  know  how  much  money  will  be  spent. 
But  the  committee  does  not  know  this,  since  there  are  various 
spending  committees  of  the  house  offering  bills  and  pressing 
them  for  passage,  which  call  for  money,  and  no  one  knows 


286 


THE  CITIZEN  AND  THE   REPUBLIC 


Evils  of  a 

Government 

Surplus 


Appropriations 
Committee 


The  Budget 
System 


how  much  will  be  called  for  in  the  aggregate.  Only  a  rough 
estimate  can  be  made,  with  the  important  committees  some- 
times working  at  cross  purposes  or  at  loggerheads,  in  a  block- 
head sort  of  fashion.  "Each  pursues  its  own  way  without 
reference  to  the  others,  and  none  of  them  is  guided  further  than 
it  chooses  by  the  Treasury  Department.  All  the  expenditures 
which  they  recommend  must  be  met  by  appropriation  bills, 
but  into  the  propriety  of  these  bills  the  Appropriation  Com- 
mittee cannot  inquire."  ^  So,  no  matter  what  the  Ways  and 
Means  Committee  may  do,  there  may  be  a  deficit,  —  or  a 
surplus,  which  is  almost  as  bad. 

If  Congress  allows  a  great  surplus  to  accumulate  in  the 
treasury,  it  takes  money  unnecessarily  from  the  pockets  of  the 
people  and  from  the  arteries  of  trade.  Idle  money  is  useless, 
or  worse,  as  it  tempts  Congress  to  extravagance,  waste,  and 
favoritism  in  its  appropriations.  The  debts  (bonds)  of  the 
government  cannot  be  paid  until  they  fall  due.  Sinking  funds 
are  provided  by  governments  for  debt-paying  purposes. 

The  most  important  spending  committee  is  the  Committee 
on  Appropriations.  Until  the  Civil  War  the  work  of  this 
committee  was  combined  with  that  of  the  Ways  and  Means 
Committee,  but  since  then  it  has  been  separate.  It  has  charge 
of  all  the  large  civil  and  diplomatic  appropriation  bills  which 
carry  money  for  the  vast  expenses  of  the  government.  Other 
committees  have  charge  of  bills  which  carry  large  appro- 
priations, —  for  the  Army,  Navy,  Rivers  and  Harbors,  Post 
Ofl&ce  Department,  Pensions,  etc.  The  need  of  cooperation 
and  concerted  action  among  these  committees  is  apparent. 
To  promote  this  end  a  "budget  scheme"  has  been  proposed. 

A  budget  is  a  plan  for  financing  a  government  for  a  definite 
period  of  time.  It  is  an  estimate  of  expenses  and  income, 
showing  where  and  why  increases  or  decreases  are  estimated. 
It  is  prepared  by  a  responsible  executive  and  offered  to  a 
representative  assembly,  or  legislature,  whose  approval  is 
1  Bryce,  Vol.  I,  p.  178. 


THE  HOUSE  287 

necessary  before  the  plan  may  be  carried  out.  This  budget, 
or  financial  plan,  involves  not  only  an  estimate  of  government 
needs,  but  an  estimate  of  financial  resources.  These  estimates 
are  made  upon  reports  from  many  persons  from  various  de- 
partments who  know  the  needs  and  operating  expenses  of  the 
government,  the  kind  of  work  to  be  done,  and  the  requirements 
for  all  the  pubUc  ofiicers  and  institutions.  These  estimates 
and  requests  are  all  arranged  by  one  responsible  executive 
who  presents  and  recommends  the  budget  to  the  legislature 
with  suggestions  as  to  the  most  available  sources  of  revenue. 
It  should  be  examined  and  approved  by  one  single  legislative 
committee,  and,  when  adopted,  it  should  be  accompanied  by 
an  accounting  system  that  will  show  clearly  where  its  pro- 
visions are  violated.  The  purpose  of  the  budget  system  is 
to  find  a  method  by  which  the  President  and  Congress  (or  the 
Governor  and  the  State  legislature)  may  consider  and  act 
together  on  a  definite  business  and  financial  program;  to  bring 
the  several  departments  of  the  government  and  the  financial 
committees  of  Congress  into  harmony  and  under  one  leadership 
in  deciding  how  much  money  to  ask  for,  how  it  shall  be  raised, 
and  how  the  money  shall  be  spent.  Heretofore  there  has  not 
been  enough  cooperative  action  between  Congress  and  the 
Executive  in  financing  the  Government,  and  the  result  has 
been  waste,  extravagance,  and  lack  of  efficiency.  It  is  hoped 
by  the  budget  system  that  the  Government  may  be  able  to 
secure  economy  and  efiiciency  by  bringing  the  business  of 
devising  a  plan  for  raising  and  spending  money  under  one 
responsible  business  head,  Hke  the  President  and  his  Cabinet, 
and  not  under  forty  different  committees  working  at  cross  pur- 
poses. Many  business  firms  are  so  conducted  and  they  oversee 
their  income  and  outgo  in  a  sensible  and  businesslike  way.^ 

1  See  the  Report  of  the  Commission  on  the  Need  of  a  National  Budget, 
sent  by  President  Taft  to  Congress,  June  27,  191 2.  House  Document, 
No.  854,  of  the  Sixty-second  Congress,  second  Session.  Also  the  Bulle- 
tins of  the  Bureau  of  Municipal  Research,  New  York  City. 


288 


THE   CITIZEN   AND  THE   REPUBLIC 


Benefits  of  the 

Committee 

System 


Mr.  Bryce  and  olher  political  observers  of  our  Congress 
have  named  a  number  of  evils  in  the  committee  system: 
(i)  It  breaks  up  the  unity  of  the  House,  —  creating  fifty  or 
more  little  legislative  bodies,  —  namely,  the  committees. 
(2)  It  cramps  debate.  There  is  no  use  attempting  effective 
speaking  in  the  House  since  the  real  decisions  are  made  in  the 
committees.  (3)  It  lessens  the  harmony  of  legislation,  since  the 
committees  proceed  without  knowing  what  other  committees 
are  doing,  the  result  being  that  inconsistent  and  conflicting 
provisions  are  inserted  in  our  statutes.  (4)  It  facilitates 
corruption.  The  members  of  the  House  tend  to  shift  their  re- 
sponsibility to  the  committees,  and  so  long  as  committees  may 
act  behind  closed  doors,  without  minutes  or  record  of  their 
proceedings,  a  member  may  escape  exposure  for  wrongdoing. 
Thus  it  reduces  the  responsibility,  and  corruption  is  more 
likely  to  prevail  if  no  one  can  be  held  responsible  for  what  is 
done.  A  member  may  oppose  a  measure  in  committee  while 
pretending  to  favor  it  in  the  open  House.  (5)  It  dissipates 
the  ability  of  the  House.  The  able  leaders  are  chairmen  of 
different  committees.  It  is  contended  that  it  would  be  better 
to  bring  fifteen  or  twenty  of  these  more  experienced  public 
men  together  into  one  central  guiding  committee  in  charge 
of  all  the  important  legislation  of  the  house,  like  the  English 
Cabinet.  The  country  would  then  know  who  was  responsible 
for  the  failures  and  shortcomings  in  legislation.  There  would 
be  oversight,  consistency,  a  common  plan  and  leadership  in 
all  lines  of  legislation.  (6)  It  lowers  the  interest  of  the 
nation  in  the  proceedings  of  Congress,  since  real  debates  and 
decisions  are  not  expected  there. 

On  the  other  hand  the  committee  system  has  its  advan- 
tages: (i)  It  is  a  convenient  means  of  kilHng  off  worthless 
bills.  Fully  twenty  thousand  bills  are  introduced  into  a  single 
Congress;  hardly  one  in  twenty  can  be  considered  or  passed 
by  the  House.  The  committees  must  kill  them  off.  and  save 
the   time   of   the  House.     (2)  It   enables  the  House  to  deal 


THE  HOUSE  289 

with  more  measures.  The  House  by  trusting  its  committees 
to  kill  or  report  bills  may  legislate  on  more  subjects  than 
would  otherwise  be  possible.  (3)  It  promotes  specialization 
in  legislation.  The  chairmen  of  the  committees  on  Naval 
Affairs,  Foreign  Affairs,  Commerce,  etc.,  may  have  given 
special  attention  and  many  years  of  study  to  the  field  of 
legislation  with  which  their  committees  have  to  deal.  It  is 
hardly  hkely  that  a  body  of  men  in  a  central  committee  for 
all  business  could  have  so  wide  and  efficient  a  grasp  on  all 
departments  of  legislation  as  the  better  chairmen  have  over 
their  special  work.  (4)  The  committees  afford  a  good  means 
of  investigating  and  scrutinizing  the  executive  departments, 
and  (5)  They  serve  as  a  means  of  communication  between 
the  legislative  and  executive  departments.  Members  of  the 
President's  cabinet  and  other  executive  officers  interested  in 
promoting  or  opposing  certain  legislation  may  appear  before 
the  committees  and  present  their  cause.  Thus  the  necessary 
cooperation  is  obtained  between  those  who  make  the  laws  and 
those  who  are  responsible  for  their  working  in  practice. 

How  A  Bill  Becomes  a  Law 

A  bill  may  be  introduced  into  either  the  House  or  the 
Senate.!  It  is  read  by  title  and  referred  by  the  presiding 
officer  to  the  proper  committee.  There  its  fate  rests,  without 
any  presumption  in  its  favor,  to  be  amended,  reported  favor- 
ably or  adversely,  or  not  reported  at  all.  If  the  bill  receives 
the  approval  of  the  Committee  it  is  reported  back  to  the 
House  of  its  origin  with  a  recommendation  that  it  be  passed. 
It  is  then  read  a  second  time  in  full  and  is  placed  upon  the 
calendar,  along  with  hundreds  of  others  that  are  waiting  to 
be  taken  up.  The  "calendar"  is  the  grave-yard  of  unnum- 
bered buried  bills  awaiting  their  turn  to  be  brought  out  to  the 
light  and  life  of  a  legislative  day  which  in  Congress  lasts  as 
long  as  the  House  remains  in  session,  —  it  may  be  a  day, 
^  All  bills  for  raising  revenue  must  originate  in  the  House. 


290 


THE   CITIZEN  AND  THE   REPUBLIC 


Committee  of 
the  Whole 


Filibustering 


three  days,  or  a  week.  To  get  at  a  bill  on  the  calendar  the 
house  must  either  (i)  await  the  bill's  turn  in  its  order,  or 
(2)  advance  it  upon  the  calendar  by  a  special  order,  that  is, 
set  a  special  time  for  its  consideration,  and  this  will  call  for  the 
consent  and  cooperation  of  the  Committee  on  Rules  (see 
p.  280).  When  the  bill  comes  up  a  third  time  it  is  read  only 
by  title,  unless  a  full  reading  is  demanded.  If  the  bill  under 
consideration  is  a  House  bill,  the  House  may  go  into  the 
"committee  of  the  whole"  to  consider  it.  This  is  the  whole 
membership  of  the  house  acting  as  a  committee.  It  is  a  form 
of  proceeding  in  which  the  House  is  less  hampered  by  rules 
and  debate  is  freer.  When  the  House  goes  into  committee 
of  the  whole,  the  Speaker  calls  some  member  to  the  chair. 
While  the  debate  is  free,  it  is  necessarily  limited.  Every 
member  may  have  a  chance  to  speak  but  the  speeches  are 
limited  to  five  minutes  each,  and  no  member  may  speak  twice 
without  special  permission.  If  the  committee  of  the  whole 
votes  favorably  on  the  bill,  the  "committee  rises,"  the  Speaker 
again  takes  the  chair,  and  the  chairman  of  the  committee  of 
the  whole  reports  the  bill  to  the  house  for  passage. 

Filibustering  in  Congress  is  the  process  of  resorting  to 
parliamentary  tactics  for  the  purpose  of  delaying,  or  obstruct- 
ing, or  preventing,  the  business  before  the  House.  The 
process  consists  of  "moving  to  adjourn,"  or  "moving  to  take 
a  recess,"  or  that  "when  the  house  adjourns,  it  adjourns  to 
a  certain  hour,"  or  making  other  "dilatory  motions,"  or  calling 
for  the  yeas  and  nays,  thus  causing  a  roll  call  (which  consumes 
half  an  hour)  or  making  long  speeches.  Windy  "filibus- 
terers"  are  fertile  in  long  speeches.  The  time  of  the  House 
may  be  taken  up  in  this  way  without  limit  unless  there  is  some 
rule  to  prevent  it.  The  House  has  a  cloture  rule,  to  close  de- 
bate, shut  off  filibustering,  and  bring  the  House  to  a  vote,  which 
the  Senate  has  only  lately  allowed.  A  cloture  rule  is  a  rule 
or  resolution  which  provides  that  after  a  certain  limited  time 
for  debate,  each  side  being  allotted  its  share  of  time,  all  motions 


%irin-fourll)  Congress  of  tbf  ^Initcb  Stairs  of  l^mcrica; 

^t  the  I'irst  J«cssion, 

BfKU'i  ■ind  held  at  the  City  <.f    Washinuton  on    Monday,  the   sixth  day  of    Ikccmber. 
ODf  tlii'usuiid  niuo  huiKlri.'il  aud  iiiteen. 


AX     ^VCO" 


Til  ,vi.ilili»|i  all  I'mht-hoiir  ilay  fur  «Miii)l(iytH's  of  iMrrict^  iiij.'a};c(l  In  iiilrrvliilt 
Mild  fi.ri'iiTii  I'Miiinrn'e.  and  for  (ithcr  (iiir|wi-i's. 


/>!■  //  /  iiiirtcd  by  the  Sennh'  nml  Hauxo  oj  hfiiri-tiii  tut  ires  of  the  I'liitnt 
Sl<it<:s  fit  Aiiierira  in  Coiigrr.i-i  ax.v>mble<l.  Thai  hcfdmiin}:  .January  first, 
niiu'tfoii  hundrod  and  seventeen,  eijrht  hours  shall,  in  r(inirart.>.  for  labor  and 
>ervi<  c.  lie  deen-.ed  a  day's  work  and  the  measure  or  stuiidani  of  a  day's  work  for 
th"  j)ur]K)se  of  recki'nin':  thi'  eonipensation  for  ser\  ins  nl  all  i  iiijiloyi  rs  «  ho  are 
n-m  or  may  hi-reafler  be  ein]iloyed  liy  any  eominou  carrier  hy  railroad,  exeejd 
railroads  indepelifU'nlly  owned  and  o|)erated  not  execediMf.'  one  hundred  miles 
in  length,  elei-trie  street  railro;uls.  and  elwlrie  interurlian  milroails,  which  is 
Nulijeet  to  the  provisions  of  the  Aet  of  February  fourth.  eif;hteen  hundred  and 
ei>:hty-seven.  entitled  "An  Aet  to  refjulate  eoinnien-e,"  as  amended,  and  who 
are  now'or  may  hereafter  be  aetually  enj,'aged  in  any  eapaeily  in  the  operation  of 
iraiiLs  used  for  the  trans]K)rtation  of  jn-rsons  or  projterly  on  railroads,  exeept 
railroads  inde|»endently  owned  and  operated  not  exeeediny:  one  hundred  miles 
in  lenjTth.  eleitric  street  railroads,  and  eleetrie  interurbaii  railroads,  from  any 
State  or  Territory  of  the  United  States  or  the  District  of  Cohunbia  to  any  other 
State  or  Territory  of  the  I'nitod  States  or  the  District  of  Ctdumbia.  or  from  one 
l)li:ee  in  a  Territory  to  another  place  in  the  same  Territorj-.  or  from  any  place  in 
the  United  States  \»  an  adjacent  foreifrn  country,  or  from  any  place  in  the  Uiiiteil 
States  through  a  foreign  counlry  to  any  other  place  in  the  Uniled  Slates: 
Pioiined.  That  the  alwve  excejitions  shall  not  ajijdy  to  railroads  though  less 
than  one  hundred  mil.^s  in  length  w  hose  principal  business  is  leasing  or  furnishing 
terminal  or  transfer  facilities  to  other  railroads,  or  are  themselves  engaged  in 
transfers  of  freight  between  railroads  or  between  railroads  and  industrial  jilants. 
Sec.  2.  That  the  President  shall  appoint  a  commi.ssion  of  three,  which 
shall  observe  the  operation  and  effects  of  the  institution  of  the  eight-hour 
standard  workday  as  above  defined  and  the  facts  and  conditions  affecting  the 

Facsimile  of  a  Federal  Law 

Act    providing    an    eight-hour    day   for   railway   employees  passed  Sept.  1916, 
to  forestall  a  general  railway  strike.     (See  other  side.) 


II.   It.   I77'"i— L' 

rcl;itiii|i>  li-  ■      '■"        '■     ■  niiiiiiun   l■:l|■|■il•l^  :iliil   .mpIm',,  ,-x  ,|iit.Lrj        ,„, 

Irys  iliMii  M  -  liinii'  ih.iu  nun- iiHiiilh-.  II;  :  (;.■  (liM  II  iiHii  ,.: 

^il■ll,  ,111.1    "  rli-i    ll.    ■'>    (|:i\s  ihrlV.iri.TMIcIl  .-olrilll  i.vsi.  .1 1   -ll.lll    n-|«.ll    11-     III,,, 11,. 

In   Ihr    i'lVMii.  Ill    :iii,l   (  ■,,n'j-r.->  :  lli:il    ,-i.  h   niriilli.-i    ol    tli,    ,  .iiiiiiii-ioii   rr..,!,-,! 
iiiiilrr  rJM-  |,r..\  i^imiv  ul  ijii.  .\,|  vIkiH  rc.iv.-  mhIi  c  i.iii|h  nvili.iri  u-  iii,i)  1..-  h\.  .1 

l.\     ihr    I'n-illi'lll.       Tll.il    lilr    -mil    III    ■■<.'.">.(  M  HI.    ,„    M,    -I,    ihrr.ol    :i-    Ul:<\    i.i 

lie.  i-sv.irv.  lie.  ;iiiii  licrfl,\  i-..  :i|i|iri.|iri:i1.-il.  mil  of  imy  iiii.ii.-\  in  llii'  I  inlil 
Malc-Tr.Msnry  imt  uliicru  i>c  .•i|ii)niiirijl.-il.  lur  lli.-  iinrvsun  i,ii,i  |,n.|«T  i-\|..  n- 
iiiciirri-.l  ill  ii.mi.'ciii.ii  wiih  ili,,  \M,rk  .it  -u,  1,  .■.,iiiiiii^-i..ii.  iii.-lii.liii;;  ^jhir^. - 
|.T  .ji.-iii.  lr:i\.liii^'  .■\|i.'ii'.,-,~  i.r  iii.-iiiliir,-  .hhI  i  iti|.|i.\  r.-s.  :iii.|  r.'iil.  liiriiil  iin  . 
..Ill.-c  li\liir.-s  .in.l  Mi|,|,|i,,..  hiiiik,.  .al;i!i.  -.  ii,,i  nil,,  i-  n.-.-r-sirx  ia|h'Ii>.-v,  iI,, 
vim.'  I..  I..-  .,|.|,|HM.I  In  111.-  .•hiiiniiali  nf  vii.l  ,,,,1111  IV, I, III  iiii.l  ;iii.ill.-tl  l.v  (In 
|>r<.|i.i    I.  •  ..iiiilinL;  .ilii.'.r-  i>t  llir  Tr.'.isiiry. 

Si-.<  ,  :;,  Tliiii  |H'iii|in;'  ihr  r.'|.iiil  III  I  III'  .  .iiiiiiii-vii.ii  h.Tiiii  |ir.i\  id.-d  kir  .iii.i 
f.ir  .-I  |«Ti.K|  III  (liirly  (l;iy-  I  licri>;iriiT  lli.'  .-.hiiim  n^ii  imi  nt  r;iilu;i>  .■iii|i|..W'.- 
viil.j.-.-l  l.,llii>  .\,-i  fdrii  ^l,-iiHl,inl  .■i:;lil-lii.ur  w.irk.l,i\  -li,ill  iml  1..- r.-.hi.-.'.l  li.lm^ 
llic  lirrsi'iil  ••lilllilard  <l.i\ '>  ui^.-,  iin.l  l.ir  :ill  iir>.T-vir\  linn-  in  cxi'i'ms  .i|  .■i;.;lil 
h.iiirs  su.li  i'ni|il..v.-.  >IkiII  I..-  |.;iiil  ul  ;i  mlr  n.ii  Irs-  lli;in  ihi'  pr.i  rain  nilc  Ini 
-licli    -l;uiilar.|   .■i^.'lit-liuur    u.,rk.|;i\  . 

Skc.  4.   TliHl  ,iiiy  |.iT-.iii  \  i.ihilini;- any  |ir.nisiuii  ul  this  .\.'t  shnll  \ir  i;iiilly 

III  a  iiiisijfint'.iiiKr  ami  iiimli  rimx  i.-lion  shall  Ix'  liii.'il  iml  I.---  lliaii  SliN)  an. I  iml 

,  iiHiri'  (hull  $1,<K»<I,  .ir  iiiifirlsoni'd  not  to  exnci-d  uiic  y.n^,  nr  Imlli. 


cJ^  nm/nrn  z/^-?/ 


S/M-iihT  (if  Ihr  HdiLsf  (if  Hrjii  ('■■<(  ntaliMui. 


,  ^ 


I'l'i'^  lln^i/tvtiiufi'l>/iiK  (^viiiififiHi-im-ttrtf/ 


THE  HOUSE 


291 


and  business  are  out  of  order  except  the  "previous  question" 
and  a  vote  on  the  pending  bill,  and  the  Speaker  is  empowered 
to  recognize  no  member  for  the  purpose  of  making  a  dilatory 
motion  and  to  declare  all  such  motions  out  of  order.  The 
Speaker  knows  such  motions  when  he  sees  them  or  hears  them. 

The  previous  question  is  a  parliamentary  remedy  against 
filibustering.  If  members  are  indulging  in  obstructive  debate 
or  motions  merely  to  stave  off  or  prevent  business,  a  member 
may  move  that  the  "previous  question"  be  put,  or  placed 
before  the  House;  that  is,  the  motion  or  measure  which  the 
majority  had  started  to  pass  before  the  filibustering  began. 
When  this  motion  is  made  no  other  motion  or  business  can 
intervene,  but  the  Speaker  must  then  put  the  motion,  or  ask 
the  House  whether  it  desires  an  immediate  vote  on  the  pending 
measure.  If  the  House  says  yes,  by  carrying  the  motion  for 
the  "previous  question,"  then  the  original  measure  must  be 
put  upon  its  passage. 

In  the  Senate  the  debate  was  always  unlimited.  But 
since  the  4th  of  March,  1917  after  "a  little  group  of  wilful 
men  "  obstructed  action  desired  by  the  overwhelming  majority 
of  the  Senate  for  the  protection  of  American  citizens  and 
American  ships,  the  previous  question  is  allowed  in  the  Senate 
for  closing  debate  and  bringing  the  Senate  to  a  decision. 

A  quorum  in  any  parliamentary  body  is  the  number  au- 
thorized by  its  constitution  legally  to  transact  business.  In 
Congress  the  majority  of  each  house  constitute  a  quorum. 
For  a  hundred  years,  whether  a  quorum  was  present  (if  any 
one  raised  the  question)  was  ascertained  by  a  roll  call.  If  a 
majority  answered  to  their  names  a  quorum  was  held  to  be 
present,  and  what  the  majority  of  this  quorum  decided  upon 
could  be  legally  passed.  If  a  majority  did  not  answer  on  the 
roll  call,  then  it  was  held  that  no  quorum  was  present  and  the 
pending  business  was  blocked.  The  House  could  not  act 
until  the  majority  were  both  present  and  ready  to  do  business 
by   voting.     Members,    though    present,    could    "break    the 


Quorum 


"Breaking  a 
Quorum  " 


292  THE   CITIZEN   AND  THE   REPUBLIC 

quorum"  and  stop  the  business  of  the  House  by  refusing  to 
vote.  When  a  party  had  only  a  small  majority  in  the  House 
it  had  to  have  all  its  members  there  before  it  could  carry 
anything  through  if  the  opposition  party  chose  to  block  it. 
"Breaking  the  quorum"  in  this  way,  by  refusing  to  vote 
either  yes  or  no  on  roll  call,  or  to  say  "present  but  not  voting," 
"Making a         was  a  common  method  of  filibustering.     This  was  the  situation 

Quorum "  .  . 

in  1890  when  Speaker  Reed  made  his  celebrated  decision  and 
"made  a  quorum"  by  instructing  the  clerk  to  count  as  "present 
but  not  voting"  a  number  of  the  minority  members  whom  he 
saw  present  but  who  were  refusing  to  vote.  The  filibustering 
was  defeated  and  the  House  was  enabled  to  proceed  with  its 
business.  After  that  a  quorum  was  determined  both  by 
roll  call  and  the  seeing  of  the  Speaker,  and  the  opposition 
members  who  were  in  their  seats  in  large  numbers  had  to 
submit  to  being  counted  as  present. 

The  Constitution  provides  that  if  a  quorum  is  not  present 
a  smaller  number  may  adjourn  from  day  to  day  and  compel 
the  attendance  of  absent  members.  The  Sergeant-at-arms 
may  send  for  absentees  and  they  may  be  brought  in  and 
censured  or  fined  for  unexcused  absence.  A  quorum  is  often 
made  in  this  way.  Many  times  the  House  proceeds  in  the 
transaction  of  business  while  there  is  no  quorum  present; 
in  fact  while  only  a  handful  of  members  are  in  the  House. 
According  to  a  legislative  fiction,  so  long  as  no  one  objects  to 
what  is  being  done  the  House  is  supposed  not  to  know  that 
there  is  no  quorum  present.  But  if  any  member  wishes  to 
object  to  what  is  going  on  when  routine  bills  are  passing 
through  the  legislative  hopper  at  a  rapid  rate,  he  may 
do  so  by  "raising  the  question  of  the  quorum."  Then  the 
passing  of  bills  stops  until  a  quorum  is  brought  in.  This 
delay  will  call  attention  to  the  measure  to  which  the  attentive 
member  has  raised  objection,  and  it  will  not  be  passed  unless  the 
majority  are  ready  to  become  responsible  for  it.  In  this 
routine  passing  of  bills  while  only  a  few  members  are  present, 


THE  HOUSE  293 

there  is  an  opportunity  for  some  "bad  job"  or  "steal"  to  get 
through,  which  illustrates  the  importance  of  having  some 
"watch-dog  of  the  treasury"  on  guard  in  the  person  of  some 
faithful  representative  who  will  not  tire  out  in  guarding  the 
interests  of  the  public. 

Before  the  final  debate  in  the  House  begins,  an  arrangement 
is  generally  made  by  the  Speaker,  the  chairman  of  the  com- 
mittee in  charge  of  the  bill,  and  the  minority  leader,  for  the 
allotment  of  time,  a  list  of  members  being  agreed  upon  who 
are  to  be  heard  for  and  against  the  measure.  No  others  will 
be  recognized  by  the  Speaker,  and  thus  the  control  of  the 
debate  is  placed  in  the  hands  of  the  leaders  on  either  side. 
The  leaders  of  the  majority  have  power  over  the  debate,  but, 
as  a  rule,  they  act  generously  in  allowing  the  minority  to  be 
heard  by  their  own  chosen  representatives. 

There  are  four  ways  of  voting  on  a  measure  in  Congress: 
(i)  By  a  viva  voce  vote.  By  this  the  presiding  officer  calls 
for  the  "ayes"  and  "noes,"  and  decides  according  to  the 
volume  of  sound.  If  exception  is  taken  to  his  decision  a  divi- 
sion may  be  called  for.  This  is  obtained  by  (2)  a  standing 
vote.  Those  for  and  against  a  measure  rise  in  succession  and 
are  counted  by  the  tellers.  Sometimes  a  presiding  officer  arbi- 
trarily refuses  to  hear  or  heed  a  call  for  a  division.  He  declares 
the  measure  carried  or  defeated,  and,  pounding  with  his  gavel 
for  order,  he  proceeds  to  announce  that  the  next  item  on  the 
calendar  is  before  the  House.  This  is  called  "gavel  rule." 
There  have  been  serious  abuses  of  this  kind.  A  presiding 
officer  is  prevented  from  becoming  too  highhanded  and  un- 
scrupulous in  "gavel  rule"  by  public  opinion  and  his  fear  of 
going  beyond  what  the  members  will  endure.  (3)  A  vote 
may  be  had  by  the  members  passing  between  the  tellers  in 
front  of  the  Speaker's  desk.  (4)  By  a  roll  call.  The  clerk 
calls  the  roll  and  each  member  answers  "aye"  or  "no."  This 
is  the  only  way  by  which  members  may  be  placed  upon 
record  in  a  vote.     One  fifth  of  the  House  may  demand  a 


Methods 
of  voting 


294 


THE   CITIZEN   AND  THE   REPUBLIC 


Pairing  off 


Conference 
Committee 


roll  call  and  thus  put  the  members  "on  record"  in  their 
voting.  This  is  quite  a  restraint,  as  members  often  change 
their  votes  when  they  know  that  how  they  are  voting  can  be 
found  out  from  the  record. 

Members  of  opposite  parties  pair  off  with  one  another  on 
party  questions  when  they  wish  to  be  absent,  so  the  party 
vote  remains  relatively  the  same.  If  a  member  who  is  paired 
is  present  while  his  "pair"  is  absent,  he  is  under  obligation 
of  honor  not  to  vote.  To  take  advantage  of  one's  "pair" 
by  voting  on  a  party  question  while  he  is  absent  would  be  the 
height  of  dishonor.  Pairs  are  arranged  by  the  Whip  and  are 
a  matter  of  record.  Oftentimes  a  member,  when  a  vote  is 
being  taken,  will  announce,  "I  am  paired  with  Mr.  So-and-so, 
who  is  absent;  if  he  were  present  I  would  vote  'No.'  "  That 
explains  where  he  stands  and  why  he  does  not  vote. 

If  a  bill  passes  one  house  (which  it  does  if  it  receives  the 
votes  of  a  majority  of  the  quorum),  it  goes  to  the  other  house 
and  goes  through  essentially  the  same  process  there.  There 
the  bill  may  be  entirely  defeated  and  laid  on  the  shelf,  or  it 
may  be  amended,  in  which  case  the  bill  will  have  to  come  back 
to  its  original  house  for  concurrence.  If  the  two  houses  can- 
not agree  separately  upon  the  terms  of  a  bill  there  is  a  "dead- 
lock," a  conference  committee  is  appointed,  say  three  or  five 
members  from  each  house,  whose  business  it  will  be  to  try  to 
adjust  the  differences  and  to  come  to  some  agreement.  Here 
some  compromise  is  likely  to  be  arranged.  Then  the  con- 
ferrees  from  each  house  report  back  to  their  respective  houses 
the  amended  bill  as  agreed  to  and  it  is  passed  by  each  house. 
The  famous  Missouri  Compromise  in  1820  was  arranged  in 
this  way.  The  conference  report  cannot  be  amended;  it 
must  be  passed  or  rejected  in  toto.  Thus  members  are  often 
compelled  to  vote  for  many  sections,  or  items,  of  a  measure 
to  which  they  are  stoutly  opposed,  and  "jobs"  are  often 
concocted  in  conference  committee  contrary  to  the  public 
interest. 


THE  HOUSE  295 

After  the  bill  has  passed  both  houses  it  then  goes  to  the  Presi- 
dent, who  may  approve  and  sign  it,  in  which  case  it  becomes 
a  law,  or  he  may  veto  it  (see  pp.  243-244),  in  which  case  it  is 
returned  with  the  President's  objections  to  the  house  in  which 
it  originated.  That  house,  after  entering  the  President's  objec- 
tions upon  its  journal,  proceeds  to  reconsider  the  bill,  and  if 
two  thirds  agree  to  pass  the  bill  it  is  sent,  together  with  the 
President's  objections,  to  the  other  house,  and  if  the  biU 
is  approved  by  two  thirds  of  that  house  also,  it  becomes  a 
law.  "In  all  such  cases  the  votes  of  both  houses  shall  be 
determined  by  yeas  and  nays  and  the  names  of  the  persons 
voting  for  and  against  any  bill  shall  be  entered  on  the  journal 
of  each  house  respectively."  ^ 

It  often  happens  that  the  members  of  the  party  majority 
in  control  of  the  House  are  not  united  in  the  support  of  bills 
brought  before  the  House.  When  the  leaders  of  the  party 
in  the  House  wish  to  get  the  united  support  of  the  party 
members  for  a  measure  they  seek  to  make  it  a  subject  for  caucus 
action.  If  the  caucus  approves  the  bill  as  a  party  measure 
and  decides  that  all  loyal  party  members  should  support  it, 
the  bill  then  becomes  a  "caucus  bill"  and  the  soUd  party 
vote  is  brought  to  its  support.  If  a  member  does  not  wish  to 
to  be  bound  by  the  caucus  action  he  should  give  public  notice 
to  that  effect  or  refuse  to  go  into  the  caucus  which  is  called  to 
pass  upon  the  bill. 

A  caucus  bill  in  America  corresponds,  in  a  measure,  to  a 
"government  bill"  in  the  Enghsh  House  of  Commons,  that  is, 
a  bill  which  is  brought  in  by  the  Cabinet  or  Government, 
or  the  responsible  ministry  of  the  time.  It  is  then  expected 
that  all  members  of  the  majority  will  vote  for  the  bill  to 
sustain  the  Government.  If  the  bill  were  defeated  it  would 
mean  that  the  Ministry  would  either  have  to  resign  or  call  a 
new  election. 

The  legislative  "rider"  is  sometimes  employed  by  one 
^  Constitution,  Art.  I,  Sect.  7. 


A  Caucus  Bill 


296  THE   CITIZEN  AND  THE   REPUBLIC 

house  against  the  other,  or  by  both  houses  against  the  Presi- 
dent to  coerce  or  induce  the  passage  of  measures.  A  "rider" 
Legislative  jg  ^^  unrelated  piece  of  legislation  attached  to  another  legis- 
lative measure  with  the  purpose  of  having  it  ride  through 
on  the  merits  of  the  measure  to  which  it  is  attached.  Riders 
are  usually  attached  to  appropriation  bills.  As  these  bills 
must  be  passed  to  supply  money  to  keep  the  wheels  of  govern- 
ment going,  it  is  thought  the  "rider"  will  not  be  thrown  off 
from  the  bill,  nor  the  whole  bill  defeated  in  order  to  defeat 
the  "rider."  The  "rider"  may  be  a  brief  amendment  or  a 
whole  new  bill  having  nothing  whatever  to  do  with  the  bill 
to  which  it  is  attached. 

In  1820  the  Senate  attached  the  Missouri  bill  as  a  "rider" 
to  the  Maine  bill  coming  up  from  the  house,  as  a  means  of 
forcing  the  anti-slavery  men  in  the  house  to  admit  Missouri 
as  a  slave  state  in  order  to  get  Maine  in  as  a  free  state,  and 
in  1855  the  anti-slavery  men  in  passing  the  Army  Appro- 
priation Bill  in  the  house  (in  order  to  bring  the  Senate  and 
the  President  to  a  different  policy  on  the  Kansas  question) 
attached  a  rider  providing  that  the  President  should  use  no 
part  of  the  money  appropriated  to  enforce  the  acts  of  the 
pro-slavery  legislature  in  the  Territory  of  Kansas.  In  1879 
the  Democrats  in  control  of  the  House  sought  to  force  the 
Senate  to  consent  to  the  repeal  of  the  Federal  Election  Law 
by  attaching  the  repealing  bill  to  a  necessary  appropriation 
bill.  The  Senate  refused  to  let  the  "rider"  pass.  A  "dead- 
lock" occurred,  Congress  adjourned  without  making  the 
necessary  appropriations,  and  President  Hayes  had  to  call 
an  extra  session  of  Congress. 

All  parties  have  used  this  legislative  device  in  the  past, 
but  it  has  become  unpopular,  and  if  either  house  or  the 
President  stands  out  against  it,  public  approval  will  be 
accorded,  while  if  important  legislation  were  defeated  because 
of  an  obnoxious  "rider,"  public  condemnation  will  be  visited 
upon  the  body  responsible  for  the  "rider."      This  illustrates 


THE  HOUSE 


297 


the  desirability  of  giving  to  the  President  the  power  to  veto 
any  item  or  part  of  an  appropriation  bill  without  vetoing  all 
of  it. 

Powers  of  the  two  Houses 

The  two  houses  are  coordinate,  of  equal  power  in  legis-   ^^^Jj^° 
lation,   except   that  the  Senate  may  not  originate  bills  for    coordinate  m 
raising   revenue.     But   it   may   originate   appropriation   bills   legislation 
which  make  revenue  bills  necessary,  and  it  may  put  onto  a 
revenue  bill  any  number  of  amendments,  which  really  gives 
the  Senate  equal  power  with  the  House.     As  a  matter  of  fact 
and  of  politics   the  Senate  is  rather  more  powerful  than  the 
House  as  a  legislative  body.     Its  members,  as  a  rule,  are  older 
and  more  experienced  in  legislation.     It  is  a  permanent  body 
and  in  conflicts  with  the  House  it  can  afford  to  bide  its  time 
and  wait  for  the  leadership  and  personnel   of  the  House  to 
change.     As  the  Senate  is  a  smaller  body  and  accustomed  to 
senatorial  courtesy,  its  members  can  more  easily  stand  together 
and  act  in  unity. 

In  England  the  two  houses  of  Parliament  are  not  coordinate. 
The  Commons  is  the  supreme  legislative  body  and  the  House 
of  Lords  is  subordinate.  The  Lords  serve  only  as  a  check  on 
the  Commons,  with  power  to  veto  a  measure  for  a  time.  But 
any  bill  which  the  Commons  passes  a  second  time  becomes 
a  law  after  the  lapse  of  two  years,  despite  any  veto  or  objection 
by  the  Lords. 

While  our  two  houses  are  coordinate  in  legislation,  each 
house  has  certain  exclusive  powers  and  privileges. 

To  the  House  belong  exclusively  the  powers,  (i)  to  originate 
revenue  bills,  (2)  to  originate  and  prefer  impeachment  charges, 
U)  to  elect  the  President  in  case  the  Electoral  College  fails   Exclusive 

^^'  ~:  Powers  and 

to  elect.     The  Senate  may  not  participate  in  any  of  these   PrivUegesof 
functions.  ^^''^  ^""'^ 

To  the  Senate  belong  exclusively  the  powers,  (i)  to  confirm 
the  President's  appointments,  (2)  to  approve  or  reject  treaties, 


298 


THE   CITIZEN   AND  THE   REPUBLIC 


(3)  to  act  as  a  court  in  impeachment  proceedings,  (4)  to  elect 
the  Vice  President  in  case  of  failure  to  elect  by  the  Electoral 
College.  The  House  may  not  take  part  in  any  of  these 
functions. 

Patronage 


Patronage  is  the  power  to  bestow  offices  and  favors.     Con- 


PoUtlcs  and 

"Pork " and       grcssmcn  are  not  given  the  appointing  power,  but  the  President 
"Pie"  usually  takes  their  recommendations  for  offices  within  their 


THE  FIELD  OF  CONORESSIOA/AL     GOY£/i./V/YI£Air 


ZahorZegis  "lafion 
Suffrage 

'igh  w3yDes/ehf>merd 
Public  Ownership 
Socialism 
Single  Tax 
Prohibiiion 
%C23?  Qt/eslion  s 
nachinerif  of6av. 

Conservdlion  Issues 
•ParkenecL  Space-Poriion  of  Field.  lighiSpace3rCon.sider,3iion 

Occupied,  by  Polilicians  for  Political    Given  Economic  and.  Gov- 
Ends.  ernrnenisl  Questions. 

A  diagram  showing  to  what  extent  many  Congressmen  give  attention  to 
political,  personal,  and  local  interests  as  against  real  public  questions. 

districts.  Many  Congressmen  spend  much  of  their  time  and 
energy  in  "playing  politics,"  in  seeking  to  get  offices  and  favors 
for  their  friends  and  supporters,  and  in  trying  to  get  appro- 
priations passed  that  will  cause  public  money  to  be  spent  in 
their  districts.  The  appropriations  for  government  buildings 
in  different  parts  of  the  country,  for  private  claims,  for  the 
improvement  of  rivers  and  harbors,  and  for  other  govern- 
mental projects,  have  become  a  source  of  waste,  extravagance, 
and  log-rolling.  Members,  without  any  regard  to  the  public 
welfare,  seek  to  get  as  much  of  this  money  as  they  can  for 
their  own  localities,  and  often  will  vote  for  a  bill,  however 


THE  HOUSE  299 

extravagant  and  wasteful,  if  by  it  a  good  sum  of  the  public 
money  is  to  be  spent  among  their  own  constituents.  Members 
combine  to  vote  for  one  another's  local  interests  in  passing 
these  wasteful  appropriation  bills. 

This  is  called  "cutting  the  Congressional  pie,"  or  "dis- 
tributing the  pork."  The  whole  amount  to  be  appropriated 
for  pubhc  buildings,  for  the  improvement  of  rivers  and  harbors, 
and  for  private  pensions  and  claims,  is  called  the  "Pork 
Barrel."  The  amount  of  "pork"  a  member  brings  home  to 
his  constituents  depends  upon  the  bargains  he  can  make  and 
on  his  position  and  influence  with  reference  to  the  proper 
committees.  His  constituents  are  prone  to  forgive  him  even 
if  he  does  sacrifice  the  interest  of  the  whole  country  provided 
he  gets  a  lot  of  money  for  their  local  benefit.  So  "pork 
barrel"  combinations  are  made  among  representatives  from 
different  parts  of  the  country  by  which  this  distribution  of 
government  money  is  carried  out,  without  much  regard  to 
the  interest  of  the  country  as  a  whole,  — •  somewhat  after  the 
manner  of  "log-rolling."     The  National  Voters'  League  says: 

The  whole  system  of  appropriating  money  for  public  buildings 
betrays  the  shameless  manner  in  which  public  funds  are  squandered 
in  order  that  political  patronage  may  be  distributed  to  communities 
which  are  either  so  lacking  in  moral  consciousness  as  to  be  objects 
of  pity,  or  else  so  frankly  out  for  "pork"  as  to  be  objects  of  contempt. 
"Pork"  is  a  national  disease.  It  debauches  both  Congressman  and 
constituency,  and  is  the  most  subtle  and  sinister  form  of  degenerat- 
ing influence  to  which  a  government  may  become  exposed.  There  is 
nothing  in  our  governmental  machinery  so  vicious  and  depraving  as 
"pork." 

Such  abuses  in  government  arise  from  time  to  time  and  public 
opinion  must  be  relied  upon  to  bring  about  their  reform. 

TOPICS   AND    QUERIES 

I.  What  would  be  the  objection  to  electing  the  representatives  to 
Congress  from  a  State  as  presidential  electors  are  elected,  all  at 
large  on  a  common  ticket? 


300  THE  CITIZEN  AND  THE  REPUBLIC 

2.  Show  the  political  injustice  of  gerrymandering.     What  remedies 

can  you  propose  for  it? 

3.  Debate:    "  Resolved,  that  the  American  practice  of  requiring  mem- 

bers of  Congress  to  reside  in  their  districts  is  not  so  good  as  the 
English  practice  of  allowing  a  freer  and  wider  choice." 

4.  What  are  the  causes  and  remedies  for  "pork"   legislation?     How 

does  such  legislation  affect  both  the  Congressman  and  his  con- 
stituents? How  would  you  use  the  public  funds  squandered 
in  this  way? 

5.  Debate:     "Resolved,  that  members  of  Congress  are  less  to  blame 

for  pork  legislation  than  their  constituents." 

6.  Compare    the  committee  system  in  the   house    of   representatives 

with  the  committee  system  in  the  House  of  Commons.  Read 
Bryce's  American  Commonwealth,  Vol.  I,  Chap.  XV,  "The 
Committees  of  Congress";  Woodburn's  American  Republic,  pp. 
279-288. 

7.  How  could  saving  be  brought  about  by  the  "  Budget  System"? 

Would  it  help  to  save  the  "pork"?     How? 

REFERENCES 

Consult  the  books  named  at  the  close  of  Chap.  IV.  Use  also  McLaugh- 
lin and  Hart's  Cyclopedia  of  Government,  noting  the  articles  on 
"Congress,"  "Speaker,"  "Whip,"  "Gerrymander,"  "Caucus," 
"Filibustering,"  "Cloture  Rule,"  "Committee  System,"  "Riders," 
"Pairing."  Miss  M.  P.  Follett's  The  Speaker  of  the  House,  H.  B, 
Fuller's  Speakers  of  the  House,  and  McConachie's  Committee 
System  of  the  House  are  special  volumes  bearing  on  the  topics  of 
this  chapter.  Lynn  Haines's  Your  Congress  is  a  recent  little  book 
which  throws  much  light  on  the  inside  working  of  Congress,  on  the 
methods  and  forces  employed  in  the  "game  of  politics,"  telling  how 
"patronage,"  "pork,"  "politics"  and  "pull"  work  the  congressional 
system.  This  is  published  by  the  "National  Voters'  League," 
which  also  publishes  the  Searchlight,  a  periodical  which  discusses 
the  practical  workings  of  Congress  and  seeks  to  turn  the  light  of 
publicity  on  Congressional  abuses  and  shortcomings.  If  one  would 
keep  posted  on  the  real  life  of  Congress  one  should  use  this  material 
and  read  the  Washington  correspondence  and  the  articles  on  the 
doings  of  Congress  in  Collier's  Weekly,  The  Outlook,  The  Indepen- 
dent, and  Review  of  the  Reviews,  Current  Opinion,  The  Literary  Digest, 
and  similar  magazines. 


CHAPTER  XVI 

THE  RELATION   OF  THE  PRESffiENT  TO   CONGRESS: 
THE  CABINET  AND  THE  EXECUTIVE  DEPARTMENTS 

How  THE  President  may  Influence  Congress 

Apart  from  his  party  leadership  and  the  party  cooperation 
of  which  we  have  spoken  the  President  may  influence  Congress 
in  various  ways: 

1.  By  his  messages  to  Congress.  Under  Washington  and 
John  Adams,  the  President  addressed  the  two  houses  of  Con- 
gress at  the  opening  of  a  session.  This  was  a  formal  affair 
like  the  king's  address  from  the  throne,  the  President  appearing 
in  state  and  the  members  of  the  two  houses  marching  in  pro- 
cession to  the  hall.  Jefferson  abolished  this  custom  and  sent 
in  a  written  message  as  being  more  in  harmony  with  democratic 
simpUcity.^  President  Wilson,  after  more  than  a  hundred 
years,  revived  the  custom  of  speaking,  not  for  form's  sake, 
but  as  a  more  direct  and  effective  way  of  impressing  his  views 
and  poHcies  upon  Congress.  He  felt  that  in  coming  face  to 
face  with  Congress  he  was  brought  into  closer  touch  and  into 
a  better  understanding  with  that  body.  President  Wilson 
has  addressed  Congress  not  only  in  the  annual  message  but  at 
such  special  times  as  he  has  felt  disposed. 

2.  By  calHng  Congress  into  extraordinary  session.  The 
President  may  call  Congress  for  a  particular  purpose.  Con- 
gress is  not  bound  to  act  upon  his  suggestion,  but  if  it  adjourns 
without  acting  he  may  call  it  into  session  again,  and  in  this 
way  he  may  "hold  Congress  down"  to  the  work  he  would  like 
to  see  accomplished. 

1  Jefferson's  enemies  said  that  this  was  done  because  he  was  not  a  good 
public  speaker,  though  he  was  a  very  effective  writer. 

301 


302  THE  CITIZEN   AND  THE   REPUBLIC 

3.  By  his  veto  power.  The  knowledge  which  the  Presi- 
dent may  give  out  that  he  will  veto  certain  legislation  may 
lead  to  its  being  modified  to  suit  the  President's  views.  The 
President  might  use  this  power  for  party  or  political  reason, 
by  letting  it  be  known  that  he  would  veto  or  approve  measures 
that  certain  members  of  Congress  were  interested  in,  as  a 
means  of  influencing  their  votes  on  other  measures.  This 
would  be  an  unbecoming  kind  of  bargaining,  or  "log-rolling," 
in  politics. 

4.  By  communications,  through  the  Cabinet,  with  con- 
gressional committees  or  their  chairmen.  Cabinet  officers 
are  not  members  of  the  legislature,  as  they  are  in  England, 
and  they  may  not  appear  on  the  floor  of  Congress  to  advo- 
cate their  measures  and  recommendations.  This  is  merely 
a  custom,  or  law  of  the  unwritten  constitution;  there  is 
nothing  in  the  written  constitution  to  forbid  it,  and  Hamilton, 
as  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  proposed  to  appear  in  Congress 
to  explain  and  defend  his  financial  measures,  but  Congress 
called  for  a  written  report  instead.  If  Hamilton  had  ap- 
peared on  the  floor  of  Congress,  the  precedent  might  have 
been  followed  in  later  years.  It  may,  of  course,  be  changed 
at  any  time.  But  Cabinet  officers  may  appear  before  the 
committees  and  use  effective  influence  there  by  personal 
recommendations  and  arguments,  as  well  as  by  private  inter- 
views with  members  of  the  committee.  If  the  Cabinet  officer 
succeeds  in  persuading  the  committee  he  is  likely  to  win 
his  cause. 

5.  By  the  use  of  the  executive  patronage.  This  refers  to 
the  President's  power  of  appointment  and  his  control  of  the 
offices.  The  President  may  give  places  to  Congressmen  or 
their  friends  if  they  will  consent  to  support  his  poHcy  in  Con- 
gress, and  he  may  withhold  appointments  from  those  who 

The  President  j-efusc.  This  is,  of  course,  a  form  of  bribery  and  may  be  a 
source  of  serious  corruption,  if  a  President  is  so  unscrupulous 
as  to  attempt  to  promote  legislation  in  this  way.     This  would 


and   Patronage 


President's  Room  at  the  Capitol,  Washixgtox,  D.  C. 


THE  RELATION  OF  THE  PRESIDENT  TO  CONGRESS     303 

lead  Congressmen  to  vote  not  according  to  their  own  con- 
science and  judgment  as  to  the  merits  of  a  bill  but  according 
to  the  party  or  other  interests.  The  President  has  millions 
to  bestow  in  the  form  of  offices  and  salaries.  It  was  in  this 
corrupt  way  that  Enghsh  kings,  by  the  places  and  favors  at 
their  command,  controlled  Parliament  and  exercised  executive 
tyranny. 

How  Congress  mla.y  Influence  the  President 

On  the  other  hand  Congress  has  various  means  of  influencing 
the  President: 

1.  By  resolution,  condemning  or  censuring  him  for  a  cer 
tain  course.     This  may  not  lead  the  President  to  alter  his 
course  but  it  is  likely  to  lead  him  to  defend  his  pohcy,  as 
President  Jackson  did  against  the  censure  of  the  Senate  in  1833. 

2.  By  an  investigating  committee.  Such  a  committee 
may  be  appointed  to  inquire  into  the  conduct  of  an  executive 
department  or  to  expose  its  misconduct,  or  to  embarrass  the 
President,  and  to  get  poHtical  campaign  material  against 
him.  The  committee  may  summon  a  Cabinet  officer  to  appear 
before  it.  He  may  refuse  to  appear,  as  the  Secretaries  are 
responsible  to  the  President  and  not  to  Congress.  But  the 
President  may  seek  to  avoid  investigation  and  annoyance  by 
cooperation  with   Congress  if  possible. 

3.  Congress  may  refuse  legislation  requested  by  the  Presi- 
dent as  a  means  of  causing  him  to  yield  to  the  wishes  of  Con- 
gress. This  would  be  like  "hitting  back"  at  a  President  who 
had  given  notice  of  his  intention  to  veto  a  bill  as  a  means  of 
bringing  Congress  to  his  terms. 

4.  By  impeachment.  A  hostile  Congress  may  watch 
closely  for  opportunities  to  bring  impeachment  proceedings, 
and  the  President  will  be  careful  not  to  give  ground  therefor. 
This  is  a  heavy  weapon  to  use  and  will  be  brought  into  use  only 
in  extraordinary  cases.  It  is  not  Hkely  to  succeed  when  applied 
for  political  purposes. 


304  THE   CITIZEN   AND  THE   REPUBLIC 

5.  Congress  may  by  law  restrict  the  scope  of  executive  acts. 
The  law  may  require  a  certain  course  of  the  President  and 
his  Cabinet  officers,  laying  down  a  strict  course  of  action  and 
forbidding  them  to  do  what  hitherto  they  had  been  left  free 
to  do.  The  President  may  veto  such  acts,  but  if  they  are 
passed  over  his  veto,  he  is  bound  to  obey  them  no  matter  if 
he  thinks  they  are  unconstitutional.  He  must  enforce  them 
until  they  are  overthrown  by  the  courts.  He  may  seek  to 
have  a  test  case  brought  before  the  courts  to  bring  about  the 
overthrow  of  the  objectionable  acts,  but  he  would  be  subject 
to  impeachment  if  he  violated  them. 

6.  Congress  holds  the  powers  of  the  purse.  It  may  with- 
hold an  appropriation  necessary  to  carry  out  the  President's 
policy,  and  by  this  means  it  may  bring  influence  and  pressure 
to  bear  on  the  President.  If  the  President  wished  to  buy 
territory.  Congress  could  refuse  the  money.  But  while  the 
President  remains  within  the  usual  range  of  his  constitu- 
tional powers.  Congress  is  not  likely  to  try  to  control  him 
in  this  way. 

7.  By  the  use  of  the  "rider"  on  an  appropriation  bill 
(see  p.  296). 

These  weapons  of  defense  and  offense  which  the  executive 
and  legislative  departments  of  the  Government  may  employ 
against  one  another  remind  us  that  these  departments  of  the 
government  are  frequently  unable  to  act  in  harmony  and  that 
they  are  sometimes  engaged  in  trying  to  circumvent  and  defeat 
one  another.  Under  our  system  of  a  fixed  term  for  President 
and  Congress  this  condition  frequently  comes  to  pass,  —  when 
the  President  and  Congress  are  of  different  parties.  Many 
How  ExecuHve   Americans  think  it  would  be  better  if  we  had  the  Enghsh 

and  Legislative  .    .  1  •    1        1        -r->        •  i 

are  harmonized  System  of  the  responsible  ministry,  by  which  the  President 
might  dissolve  Congress  and  appeal  to  the  people  by  a  fresh 
election  if  it  refused  to  sustain  him  and  by  which  he  would 
have  to  resign  if  the  people  sustained  Congress.  But  the 
system  as  we  have  it  under  the  so-called  "separation  of  the 


THE  RELATION  OF  THE  PRESIDENT  TO  CONGRESS    305 

powers"  is  coming  to  be  more  and  more  workable  by  dis- 
regarding the  theory  through  the  operation  of  party  forces, 
and  thus  harmony  between  the  legislative  and  executive 
branches  is  more  regularly  maintained.  By  party  leadership 
and  unity  President  and  Congress  work  together,  and  the 
people,  when  they  elect  a  President,  are  more  disposed  to  elect 
with  him,  and  maintain  for  him  through  his  term  a  Congress 
that  will  sustain  his  policies.  The  people  cannot  so  readily 
change  the  Senate  to  bring  about  this  harmony,  but  with  one 
third  of  the  senate  now  subject  to  popular  election  every 
two  years  there  is  a  marked  tendency  in  this  direction. 

The  Presidential  Succession 

The  Vice  President  has  two  functions.  One  is  to  preside 
over  the  senate;  the  other  is  to  succeed  to  the  presidency 
in  case  the  President  dies.  He  is  not  a  member  of  the  senate 
and  therefore  he  has  no  vote,  except  in  case  of  a  tie,  which  p^^^'gjjg^j 
is  very  rare.  His  ofi&ce  is  ceremonial,  of  some  dignity  and 
honor  but  of  no  power,  and  not  of  political  importance 
except  in  the  possibiHty  of  his  succession  to  the  presidency. 
The  office  is  a  constant  subject  of  jocose  remark,  and  it  is  said 
that  to  elect  a  man  to  the  Vice  Presidency  is  equivalent  to 
retiring  him  to  a  place  where  he  can  do  no  harm.  He  has 
no  responsibiUty  and  nothing  to  do  except  to  preside  in  the 
Senate,  whose  proceedings  he  cannot  in  the  least  influence  or 
direct.  But  should  the  President  die,  the  Vice  President 
becomes  the  most  important  man  in  the  country.  So,  as 
Mr.  Bryce  says,  he  is  "aut  nullus,  aut  Caesar";  he  is  either 
nothing  at  all  or  the  ruler  of  the  land.  The  political  party, 
when  it  nominates  its  national  ticket,  seems  to  expect  with 
confidence  that  its  candidate  for  President  will  not  only  be 
elected  but  will  live  out  his  four  years.  The  delegates  in 
convention  take  too  little  care  in  selecting  a  man  for  Vice 
President.  They  take  into  consideration  the  section  of  the 
country  from  which  the  candidate  comes  or  the  faction  of 


3o6  THE  CITIZEN   AND  THE   REPUBLIC 

the  party  to  which  he  belongs,  using  the  office  as  a  sop  to  the 
defeated  faction  in  the  contest  for  the  presidency,  but  they 
do  not  carefully  consider  whether  the  man  is  fit  to  be  Presi- 
dent. Five  times  in  our  history  the  President  has  died  in 
office  and  the  Vice  President  has  succeeded  to  his  place.  No 
man  should  be  named  for  the  second  office  whom  the  party 
and  the  country  would  be  unwilling  to  have  in  the  first. 
Congress  may  designate  by  law  who  shall  succeed  to  the 
The  Presiden-     Presidency  if  both  the  President  and  Vice  President  should 

tial  Succession 

die  in  a  single  term.  This  has  never  yet  occurred,  but  pro- 
vision has  been  made  for  it.  By  a  law  of  1792  the  president 
pro  tern  of  the  senate  was  to  become  President  and  after  him 
the  Speaker  of  the  House.  Objections  arose  to  this  plan. 
It  would  bring  legislative  leaders  into  the  executive  office 
and  was  not  unlikely  to  bring  a  leader  of  a  different  party 
from  the  one  chosen  by  the  people,  who  could  reverse  the  poli- 
cies for  which  the  people  had  voted.  Also  there  might  be 
months  at  a  time  in  the  recess  of  Congress  or  before  a  new 
Congress  meets  when  there  would  be  no  Speaker  of  the 
House  or  president  pro  tern  of  the  Senate. 

In  view  of  these  objections  Congress  in  1886  passed  the 
present  Presidential  Succession  Act,  which  provides  for  the 
succession  of  the  Cabinet  officers  in  the  following  order: 
I.  Secretary  of  State.  2.  Secretary  of  the  Treasury.  3.  Secre- 
tary of  War.  4.  Attorney  General.  5.  Postmaster  General. 
6.  Secretary  of  the  Navy.  7.  Secretary  of  the  Interior.  The 
remaining  three  departments,  —  Agriculture,  Commerce,  and 
Labor  have  been  made  Cabinet  departments  since  1886,  but 
have  not  been  included  in  the  succession  to  the  presidency. 

The  Cabinet 

The  President's  Cabinet  consists  of  the  ten  heads  of  the 
executive  departments,  as  follows: 
The  Secretary  of  State.  The  Secretary  of  War. 

The  Secretary  of  the  Treasury.     The  Attorney  General. 


THE  RELATION  OF  THE  PRESIDENT  TO  CONGRESS     307 


The  Postmaster  General. 
The  Secretary  of  the  Navy. 
The  Secretary  of  the  Interior. 


The  Secretary  of  Agriculture. 
The  Secretary  of  Commerce. 
The  Secretary  of  Labor. 


These  heads  of  departments  are  appointed  by  the  President, 
the  Senate  confirming  his  choice  without  question. 

The  Cabinet  officer  has  two  functions:  i.  To  preside 
over  his  department  and  to  be  responsible  for  its  management 
by  the  control  and  direction  of  his  subordinates.  2.  To  meet 
in  council  with  the  President  and  the  other  members  of  the 
Cabinet,  to  advise  the  President  on  all  matters  of  public  policy 
that  may  be  brought  up.  The  President  and  his  Cabinet  make 
up  the  Administration  and  they  "put  their  heads  together" 
in  council  to  decide  on  what  is  the  best  course  to  pursue  in 
the  direction  of  public  affairs.  The  members  of  the  Cabinet 
are  responsible  to  the  President,  and  whatever  policy  is  decided 
upon  is  the  President's  policy.  He  may  retain  or  remove  them 
at  will;  Congress  cannot  keep  a  Cabinet  member  in  office 
nor  cause  his  removal.  The  President  is  responsible  to  the 
nation  for  what  the  Administration  does  and  in  a  Cabinet  meet- 
ing his  vote  in  any  decision  outweighs  all  the  rest, — if  he  insists 
upon  his  own  judgment.^  The  President  may  yield  his  own 
judgment  to  that  of  the  majority,  but  if  he  does  not  see  fit 
to  do  so  and  stands  firmly  by  his  own  policy,  then  it  is  the  duty 
of  the  Secretaries  to  yield  their  judgment  and  support  the 
President  in  the  course  he  decides  to  take.  If  any  one  of  them 
cannot  conscientiously  do  so  he  should  resign  and  let  some 
one  take  his  place  who  will  support  the  President. 

When  Jackson's  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  refused  to 
carry  out  a  policy  in  his  department  which  the  President 
desired  (the  removal  of  the  deposits  from  the  Second  United 
States  Bank)   and  also  refused  to  resign,  Jackson   removed 

1  A  story  is  told  of  the  way  Lincoln  announced  a  Cabinet  vote. 
"The  vote  stands  7  noes,  i  aye.  The  ayes  have  it."  He  had  voted 
"aye"  and  meant  to  insist  upon  his  Cabinet  members  supporting  his 
policy. 


Functions  of 
the  Cabinet 
Officer 


Relation  of  the 
Cabinet  Officer 
to  the 
President 


3o8 


THE  CITIZEN   AND  THE   REPUBLIC 


The 

Homogeneous 

Cabinet 


The 

Constitution 
and  the 
Cabinet 


him  and  appointed  a  Secretary  who  was  in  harmony  with  the 
President's  poHcy  and  would  carry  out  his  will.  It  has  been 
undisputed  since  Jackson's  time  that  a  Cabinet  officer  is  sub- 
ordinate to  the  President,  and  his  policies  may  be  controlled 
by  the  President. 

The  Cabinet  in  America  does  not  stand  or  fall  together  as 
in  England,  but  each  individual  member  is  appointed  or  re- 
moved separately,  for  whatever  political  or  sectional  support 
he  may  bring  to  the  Administration.  The  President,  of 
course,  always  shows  personal  deference  and  respect  to  the 
opinions  of  his  Secretaries,  often  yielding  his  own  views  to 
theirs,  and  he  seldom  interferes  with  the  management  of 
their  departments.  But  for  malfeasance  or  inefficiency  in  a 
department  the  country  would  hold  the  President  respon- 
sible, and  when  a  public  policy  is  to  be  carried  before  the 
country  the  Cabinet  must  be  politically  united;  it  must  be 
"homogeneous"  in  opinion  and  purpose.  Of  course,  the  ten 
members  may  never  all  agree  with  the  President  or  with  one 
another  on  any  subject,  but  when  a  decision  is  made  opinions 
must  be  yielded  and  differences  reconciled,  or  the  Adminis- 
tration and  the  Cabinet  would  be  divided  and  disrupted. 
In  ordinary  times  a  President  makes  up  his  Cabinet  entirely 
from  one  party  for  this  reason. 

The  Cabinet  as  we  now  have  it  was  not  created  by  the  Con- 
stitution. Each  department  is  created  by  law,  but  the  Cabinet 
as  a  council  has  grown  up  by  custom.  All  the  Constitution 
says  about  it  is:  "The  President  may  require  the  opinion 
in  writing  of  the  principal  officer  in  each  of  the  executive 
departments  upon  any  subject  relating  to  the  duties  of  their 
respective  offices."  Thus  all  that  seems  to  have  been  con- 
templated was  that  the  President  should  consult  the  heads  of 
the  several  departments  separately,  asking  their  advice  in 
writing,  and  following  this  advice,  or  not,  as  he  chose.  Wash- 
ington frequently  pursued  this  practice. 

Each  of  the  executive  departments  is  divided  into  bureaus, 


THE  RELATION  OF  THE  PRESIDENT  TO  CONGRESS     309 

and  each  bureau  into  divisions.  Each  bureau  and  division 
has  a  chief.  There  are  usually  first,  second,  third,  and  fourth 
assistant,    to    the    secretaries.     The    assistants    are   not    so   i^epartment 

Divisions 

well  known  to  the  public,  but  are  usually  the  more  permanent 
officers  in  the  departments  who  manage  the  administrative 
business.  They  are  the  connecting  and  continuing  links 
between  successive  administrations.  They  have  more  expert 
knowledge  of  the  details  and  subordinate  work  required,  but 
it  is  seldom  that  an  assistant  secretary  is  promoted  to  the 
secretaryship,  since  the  political  character  of  the  Cabinet 
member  is  of  importance.  Secretary  Lansing,  the  first 
assistant  secretary,  was  made  Secretary  of  State  upon  Mr. 
Bryan's  resignation  in  19 15  from  President  Wilson's  Cabinet  in 
an  international  crisis,  a  rather  unusual  promotion.  It  is  not 
unusual  for  such  an  assistant  to  serve  under  successive  Presi- 
dents of  different  parties.  Their  functions  are  not  political 
and  it  may  be  noticed  that  the  purely  administrative  and  non- 
political  functions  of  the  Cabinet  officer  and  especially  of  his 
subordinates  are  assuming  larger  proportions  and  importance. 

The  Department  of  State 

The  Secretary  of  State  is  the  leading  officer  in  the  Cabinet. 
He  is  sometimes  called  the  Premier  of  the  Administration. 
He  is  the  President's  "right-hand  man,"  sitting  in  the  seat  of 
honor  at  the  right  of  the  President  at  the  Cabinet  table.  He 
is  usually  a  political  figure  of  commanding  importance  and  is 
often  chosen  for  his  political  influence  and  party  leadership. 
President  Lincoln  appointed  Secretary  Seward,  his  chief  rival 
for  the  presidential  nomination,  and  President  Wilson  ap- 
pointed Mr.  Bryan,  whose  influence  and  leadership  in  the 
Democratic  party  had  promoted  President  Wilson's  nomination 
and  election.  Mr.  Bryan  was  a  powerful  political  aid  in  rally- 
ing a  united  party  to  the  support  of  President  Wilson's  policies. 

It  is  the  duty  of  the  State  department  to  receive  and  record 
acts  of  Congress,  to  sign  and  to  attach  the  great  seal  of  State, 


310 


THE   CITIZEN   AND  THE   REPUBLIC' 


Work  of  the 

State 

Department 


Ambassadors 
and  Ministers 


and  to  make  public  the  proclamations  of  the  President.  His 
department  is  the  organ  of  communication  between  the  national 
Government  and  the  States  upon  the  one  hand  and  between  the 
national  Government  and  foreign  powers  on  the  other.  The 
Secretary  of  State  is  the  minister  for  foreign  affairs.  He 
manages  the  Diplomatic  Bureau  and  the  Consular  Bureau, 
appointing,  under  the  President,  ambassadors,  ministers,  and 
consuls  to  foreign  countries,  and  receiving  and  introducing 
to  the  President  like  officers  from  them.  The  spoils  system 
is  being  eliminated  from  the  diplomatic  and  consular  service, 
as  recent  events  have  demonstrated  the  need  of  trained  and 
expert  officials  in  the  foreign  service  of  the  country. 

There  are  several  grades  of  the  Diplomatic  Service,  the 
order  being  Ambassador,  Minister  Plenipotentiary  and  Envoy 
Extraordinary,  and  Minister  Resident.  The  Charge  d\Af aires 
is  a  diplomatic  subordinate  who  has  temporary  charge  of 
diplomatic  affairs  during  the  absence  or  illness  of  his  superior 
officer.  In  eleven  of  the  principal  countries  of  the  world  the 
American  diplomatic  representative  is  known  as  Ambassador.' 
This  title  serves  to  give  equal  rank  and  recognition  with  the 
ministers  of  other  countries.  These  American  representa- 
tives at  foreign  capitals  are  charged  with  the  duty  and  re- 
sponsibility of  safe-guarding  the  interests  of  their  country, 
cultivating  friendly  relations,  protecting  American  citizens, 
and  using  their  good  offices  to  promote  the  interest  of  Ameri- 
cans who  may  be  traveling  or  residing  abroad.  They  deal 
with  international  affairs,  questions  of  public  law,  and  con- 
troversies that  may  arise  between  nations.  They  should 
never  take  part  in  any  way  with  the  politics  or  internal  dif- 
ferences of  the  country  to  which  they  are  accredited.^ 

^  Great  Britain,  Russia,  Germany,  France,  Italy,  Austria-Hungary, 
Mexico,  Japan,  Spain,  Turkey,  Brazil, 

2  The  salaries  of  our  diplomatic  representatives  vary  from  $4000  for 
Ministers  Resident  to  $17,500  for  Ambassadors.  Other  countries,  as  a 
rule,  pay  much  more.  The  social  and  diplomatic  expenses  at  foreign 
capitals  are  so  great  that  only  men  who  can  draw  liberally  upon  their 


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THE  RELATION  OF  THE  PRESIDENT  TO  CONGRESS     31 1 


The  Consular  Service  is  another  branch  of  Government 
service  in  foreign  countries.  The  Consul  deals  with  com- 
mercial or  business  affairs.  He  seeks  to  cultivate  trade  and 
attends  to  certain  business  and  personal  interests  of  our 
citizens  abroad.  He  seeks  to  aid  his  Government  in  carrying 
out  its  immigration  and  naturalization  laws,  and  to  collect 
information  on  trade,  industries,  and  markets.  There  are 
several  grades  in  the  consular  service,  —  Consuls-General  (in 
important  foreign  capitals)  —  Consuls,  and  Consular  Agents. 
Consular  appointments  were  formerly  made  as  a  reward  for 
n  and  political  service,  but  now  civil  service  examinations 
a*  held  for  Consular  Agents,  and  promotions  and  appoint- 
ments to  the  higher  posts  are  made  more  generally  on  a  basis 
of  fitness  and  merit.  Men  are  sought  for  these  posts  who 
have  had  special  training  in  languages  and  business  experience. 

The  Department  of  State  also  has  charge  of  the  Bureau 
of  Archives  and  the  Bureau  of  Citizenship.  The  former  is 
charged  with  keeping  the  records  and  foreign  correspondence 
of  the  nation.  The  latter  issues  passports  or  certificates  of 
citizenship  (upon  the  payment  of  a  fee  of  one  dollar)  to 
persons  who  desire  them  while  living  or  traveling  abroad. 
Passports  may  be  issued  not  only  to  persons  who  live  in  the 
United  States  but  to  the  inhabitants  (subjects)  of  our  island 
possessions  and  to  aliens  who  have  declared  their  intention 
to  become  citizens  of  America. 


Bureau  of 
Archives  and 
Citizenship 


Department  of  the  Treasury 

This  department  has  charge  of  the  national  finances.  It 
oversees  the  public  funds,  the  revenue  laws,  the  currency  and 
banking  laws,  and  all  auditing  of  accounts.  The  Bureau  of 
Engraving  and  Printing,  the  construction  of  public  buildings, 


private  incomes  can  afford  to  accept  these  appointments.  The  honor  and 
distinction,  together  with  the  opportunity  for  important  service,  are  held 
to  be  the  chief  compensation. 


312  THE  CITIZEN   AND  THE   REPUBLIC 

the  life-saving  service,  the  marine  hospital  business,  also  fall 
under  the  administration  of  this  Department. 

The  Treasurer  of  the  United  States  (a  different  officer  from 
the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury)  is  the  custodian  of  the  Govern- 
ment funds.  It  is  his  business  to  receive  and  disburse  public 
moneys  on  the  proper  warrants.  Besides  the  treasury  at 
Washington  there  are  subtreasuries  at  New  York,  Philadelphia, 
Baltimore,  Cincinnati,  Chicago,  St.  Louis,  New  Orleans,  and 
San  Francisco  which  are  agencies  for  the  receipt  and  expendi- 
ture of  public  money.  Certain  national  banks  throughout 
the  country  are  now  also  designated  as  Government  depositories 
and  they  receive  from  Postmasters  the  Postal  Savings  deposits. 

The  Register  of  the  Treasury  issues  and  signs  all  United 
States  bonds  and  all  transfers  of  bonds  and  funds.  The 
Comptroller  of  the  Treasury  has  the  oversight  of  the  national 
banking  system.  He  oversees  the  organization  of  a  new  bank, 
sees  that  its  capital  stock  is  fully  paid,  that  United  States 
bonds  to  secure  its  circulating  notes  are  deposited  in  the 
United  States  Treasury,  and  that  there  are  regular  and  care- 
ful examinations  of  all  national  banks  and  that  public  reports 
are  made  as  to  their  condition.  Numerous  bank  examiners 
throughout  the  States  are  appointed  for  this  purpose,  their 
salaries  being  paid  by  charges  (fees)  upon  the  banks. 

The  Comptroller  also  attends  to  forms  of  accounts.     He 

may  be  called  upon  to  make  important  decisions  as  to  the 

validity  of  payments,  and  the  disbursing  officer  is  bound  by 

these  decisions  unless  a  court  reverses  them.     A  number  of 

Auditors  are  engaged  in  examining  and  settling  claims.     No 

public  officer  may  legally  pay  out  money  except  on  the  proper 

vouchers,  and  he  cannot  be  credited  with  the  payment  until 

his  account  has  been  audited  and  approved. 

The  Mint  and         jj^  |-]^js  department  there  is  a  Director  of  the  Mint  to  ad- 
its Director  .    ,  ,       ^   .  ,  ,  „  T.T-    .      <• 

mmister  the  comage  laws  and  assay  offices.  Mmts  lor  commg 
money  are  established  at  Philadelphia,  Denver,  San  Francisco, 
and  New  Orleans.     The  Assaying  Offices  are  for  determining 


State,  War,  and  Navy  Departments,  Washington,  D.  C. 


^Wli|illiTTll  I 
iiijinijjuiij^ 


ft      ^awigxMra 


Department  of  Agriculture,  Washingiox,  D.  C. 


Patent  Office,  Washington,  D.  C. 


The  Treasuky  Department,  Washington,  D.  C. 


A  Silver  Vault,  U.  S.  Treasury,  Washington,  D.  C. 


THE  RELATION  OF  THE  PRESIDENT  TO  CONGRESS     313 

the  fineness  and  purity  of  bullion.  They  exist  in  New  York, 
St.  Louis,  Deadwood,  Helena,  Boise,  Carson  City,  Salt  Lake, 
Seattle,  and  Charlotte. 

The  Bureau  of  Engraving  and  Printing  attends  to  the  engrav- 
ing and  printing  of  all  forms  of  government  notes,  bonds,  coins, 
banknotes,  all  internal  revenue  stamps  and  postage  stamps, 
drafts  and  checks,  and  forms  of  Government  certificates. 

There  is  a  Supervising  Architect  in  this  department  whose 
duty  it  is  to  select  and  purchase  sites  for  Government  build- 
ings, —  Federal  court  house,  post  ofiice  buildings,  custom- 
houses, etc.  He  awards  contracts  and  attends  to  the  leasing 
of  buildings. 

A  Secret  Service  is  connected  with  the  Treasury  Department 
consisting  of  a  number  of  detectives  who  are  employed  to  detect 
frauds  and  crimes  against  the  Government,  such  as  counter- 
feiting and  selHng  "green  goods"  and  "moonshining." 

"Moonshining"  relates  to  the  illegal  distilleries  that  are 
sometimes  run  in  concealed  places,  usually  in  backwoods  and 
mountain  regions,  to  escape  the  internal  revenue  tax  on  liquors. 
"Moonshine  whisky"  is  usually  made  at  night,  and  it  oc- 
casionally happens  that  United  States  revenue  officers  have  a 
hard  time  running  these  stills  down  and  putting  them  out  of 
business.  "Green  goods"  men  are  the  counterfeiters  who  run 
their  outfits  in  dark  and  out-of-the-way  places,  often  in  the 
larger  cities,  selling  their  "goods"  at  a  low  rate  on  the  dollar. 
Their  work  is  at  times  so  skillfully  done  that  even  the  expert 
agents  in  Washington  have  difficulty  in  detecting  the  counter- 
feit fraud.  But  as  a  rule  with  n  a  comparatively  short  time 
the  United  States  Government  succeeds  in  running  down  and 
imprisoning  these  outlaws  and  criminals  who  defy  its  authority. 

The  War  Department 

This  department  has  charge  of  all  army  affairs,  the  national 
defense,  seacoast  fortifications,  river  and  harbor  improve- 
ments and  obstructions  to  navigation,  the  National  Military 


314  THE  CITIZEN  AND  THE  REPUBLIC 

Academy  at  West  Point,  army  posts,  camps  and  schools  of 
instruction,  military  parks  and  cemeteries.  The  War  De- 
partment has  many  bureaus,  with  their  various  officers  and 
chiefs. 

The  school  at  West  Point  was  founded  in  1802.  One 
student,  or  cadet,  is  appointed  to  West  Point  from  each 
Congressional  District,  usually  on  the  nomination  of  the  dis- 
trict's representative  in  Congress.  All  candidates  for  admis- 
sion must  pass  rigid  examinations,  mental  and  physical. 
Each  cadet  has  $600  a  year  for  his  expenses  during  the  course 
of  four  years.  The  graduates  are  numbered  in  rank  according 
to  their  class  standing  and  are  made  second  lieutenants  in 
the  army.  Those  of  the  highest  standing  may  have  appoint- 
ments in  the  engineering  corps  if  they  choose.  The  super- 
intendent and  teachers  in  the  academy  are  officers  in  the 
regular  army. 
'^^^  In  order  to  unite  the  Bureaus  under  one  general  directing 

General  .      ^    .  ..... 

Staff  body  and  to  secure  harmony  and  efficiency  m  the  admmistra- 

tion  of  the  many  activities  of  the  War  Department,  Congress 
in  1903  created  the  General  Staff.  This  consists  of  officers 
taken  from  all  arms  of  the  service,  —  infantry,  cavalry,  ar- 
tillery, engineers,  etc.  It  is  the  business  of  this  body  to 
supervise  all  military  agencies,  the  officers  in  charge  of  troops 
(line  officers)  as  well  as  those  in  charge  of  bureaus  (staff 
officers).  The  Chief  of  Staff  is  at  the  head  of  this  organization 
and  of  the  army.  The  Chief  is  always  an  army  officer  and 
he  is  appointed  by  the  President  for  a  term  of  four  years. 
The  Bureau  of  Supply  now  combines  what  was  formerly 
the  Quartermaster's,  the  Commissary's  and  the  Paymaster's 
Bureaus.  The  work  of  this  division  is  to  clothe  and  feed 
the  army,  pay  it,  and  provide  for  its  necessities.  To  be  able 
to  move  an  army,  to  provide  it  with  food  and  shelter,  not  to 
speak  of  comfort,  is  in  large  part  the  measure  of  a  nation's 
success  in  war.  Success  in  war  depends  upon  success  in  ad- 
ministration  and   management.     The   General   Staff   directs 


THE  RELATION  OF  THE  PRESIDENT  TO  CONGRESS     315 

many  other  agencies  necessary  in  the  conduct  of  war  —  the 
medical  service,  inspection  of  posts,  signal  service,  ordnance 
service,  aviation  service,  insular  service,  etc.^ 

The  Navy  Department 

The  Navy  Department,  created  in  1798,  like  the  War  De- 
partment, has  its  several  bureaus,  —  of  Navigation,  Yards  and 
Docks,  Equipment,  and  Ordnance.  As  in  the  War  Depart- 
ment, Naval  officers  are  in  charge  of  these  bureaus.  The 
names  of  the  bureaus  will  serve  to  indicate  the  matters  in 
charge  of  each.  The  Navy  also  has  its  law  officer  (Judge 
Advocate  General).  The  Naval  Academy  at  Annapolis, 
Maryland,  corresponds  to  the  military  school  at  West  Point, 
and  appointments  to  it  are  obtained  in  the  same  way.  The 
Naval  Academy  was  founded  in  1846,  while  the  noted  his- 
torian, George  Bancroft,  was  Secretary  of  the  Navy.  The 
midshipmen  are  given  instruction  in  gunnery,  naval  con- 
struction, engineering,  mathematics,  international  law,  and 
modern  languages.  After  the  four  years  course  the  "middies" 
are  sent  to  sea  for  two  years  and  then  receive  subordinate 
appointments  in  the  navy. 

The  Department  of  Justice 

This  department  was  not  created  until  1870  and  is  presided 
over  by  the  Attorney  General,  who  was,  however,  a  member 
of  the  first  Cabinet.  The  Attorney  General  is  the  legal  adviser 
to  the  President  and  he  represents  the  United  States  in  cases 
before  its  courts.  He  has  supervision  over  United  States 
Attorneys  and  marshals.  He,  or  one  of  his  subordinates, 
institute  prosecutions  and  proceedings  against  persons  and 
corporations  charged  with  violations  of  United  States  Law. 

The  Government  has  a  Secret  Service  whose  business  it  is    The  Secret 

Service 

to  punish  and  prevent  violations  of  the  law.     It  works  on 

1  See  an  article  on  "Army  Organization,"  by  C.  D.  Wilcox  in  Harper's 
Magazine,  November,  191 7. 


3i6  THE  CITIZEN  AND  THE  REPUBLIC 

cases  whfre  a  secret  detective  service  is  needed.  For  the 
Post  Office  Department  it  detects  mail  thefts  and  robberies; 
for  the  Interior  Department,  it  exposes  pension  frauds  and 
frauds  in  land  sales  and  land  claims;  for  the  Treasury  De- 
partment, it  hunts  out  violations  and  evasions  of  the  tax 
laws  and  coinage  laws,  such  as  smuggling,  moonshining,  and 
counterfeiting.  It  keeps  track  of  all  known  smugglers  and 
their  schemes,  and  its  agents  in  foreign  countries  report  to 
our  customs  officers  unusual  purchases  of  jewelry,  silks,  laces, 
and  other  dutiable  goods  whose  owners  are  likely  to  try  to 
get  them  into  the  country  without  paying  duties.  Secret 
Service  agents  protect  the  President  from  attack  or  injury. 
The  Department  of  Justice,  which  prosecutes  the  law  vio- 
lators, has  a  secret  service  of  its  own,  and  especially  in  time 
of  war  its  activities  are  vigorous  and  effective  in  arresting 
spies;  in  detecting  the  schemes  of  alien  enemies  within  our 
borders;  finding  correspondence  and  documents  to  expose 
the  crooked  diplomacy  and  plots  of  the  enemy;  prevent- 
ing sedition  and  treasonable  utterances,  and  protecting  the 
country  and  the  Government  from  secret  and  lurking  foes. 

The  Post  Office  Department 

The  Postmaster  General  presides  over  this  department.  He 
has  general  charge  of  postal  affairs.  All  postmasters  are  his 
subordinates  whom  he  appoints  and  may  remove,  subject  to 
the  control  of  the  President.^  The  four  Assistant  Postmasters 
General  supervise  different  departments  of  the  postal  service.^ 

The  Department  of  the  Interior 

This  department  was  created  in  1849.  In  numbers  its 
employees  rank  second  only  to  the  Treasury  Department,  and 
in  services  to  the  people  it  is  second  only  to  the  Post  Office 

^  Post  offices  paying  less  than  $1000  are  not  in  the  presidential  class 
and  are  managed  by  a  separate  bureau. 

2  For  recent  services  and  activities  of  the  Post  Office  Department 
see  p.  78. 


THE  RELATION  OF  THE  PRESIDENT  TO  CONGRESS     317 


Department.  It  has  charge  of  the  following  affairs  of  the 
national  Government:  (i)  PubHc  lands;  (2)  Indian  affairs; 
(3)  Pensions;    (4)  Patents;   (5)  The   geological  survey. 

The  General  Land  Office  has  charge  of  all  pubHc  lands  and 
their  survey  and  disposal,  and  of  all  forest  reserves.  The 
national  policy  towards  public  lands  is  a  large  and  important 
topic  in  American  history. 

Indian  affairs  do  not  now  require  as  large  an  amount  of 
Government  attention  as  formerly.  Indian  lands  have  been 
largely  "alotted  in  severalty"  to  individual  members  of  the 
tribes,  and  the  poHcy  now  being  pursued  will  soon  extinguish 
all  Indian  tribes  and  merge  their  members  into  the  common 
body  of  American  citizenship.  The  Federal  Government 
maintains  several  schools  for  the  education  of  the  Indians, 
the  best  known  being  the  one  at  Carlisle,  Pennsylvania. 

The  Pension  Bureau  is  under  the  Interior  Department. 
This  involves  a  vast  amount  of  business.  Pension  payments 
involve  the  largest  single  item  of  national  expense  to  the 
national  Government.  The  total  expense  for  pensions  from 
1789  to  the  Civil  War  did  not  equal  one  half  of  what  is  now 
expended  every  year.  The  Commissioner  of  Pensions  reported 
in  191 5  that  there  were,  fifty  years  after  the  close  of  the  Civil 
War,  still  900,000  names  on  the  pension  rolls,  and  a  late 
Congressional  appropriation   for   pensions   was   $162,000,000. 

All  examinations  and  adjudications  of  claims  fall  within 
this  bureau,  and  there  are  many  pension  agencies  and  thou- 
sands of  medical  examiners  throughout  the  country  connected 
with  the  bureau.  Pensioners  are  paid  in  nearly  every  city 
and  village  in  the  land  through  the  pension  agencies,  whose 
officers  send  the  vouchers  to  the  pensioners  which  are  cashed 
by  local  post  offices  and  banks. 

In  the  World  War  a  system  of  war  insurance  has  been  sub- 
stituted for  pensions,  by  which  the  soldiers  may  be  insured 
at  a  low  cost.  If  disabled  they  are  assured  a  fair  income; 
if  killed  their  dependents  receive  a  liberal  support. 


General 
Land  OfBce 


Indian 
Affairs 


Pension 
Bureau 


3i8  THE  CITIZEN  AND  THE   REPUBLIC 

Bureau  of  "fhe  BuYcau  of  Education,  established  in  1867,  has  a  Com- 

Educatlon  .     .  ,         "'   ,  .      .  „  ,     ,•       ., 

missioner  whose  duty  it  is  to  coUect  and  distribute  statistics 
and  information  concerning  the  educational  facts,  methods, 
and  institutions  of  the  country.  Education  is  chiefly  a 
State  function.  The  nation  has  no  schools  except  for  special 
national  purposes  (military,  naval,  Indian).  The  colleges  of 
Agriculture  and  Mechanical  Arts  are  controlled  and  adminis- 
tered by  the  States,  but  are  assisted  by  the  United  States. 
The  Commissioner  of  Education  has  the  distribution  of  the 
the  funds  appropriated  for  these  schools. 
Geological  'pj^g  Geological  Survey,  established  in  1879,  is  in  the  Depart- 

Survey 

ment  of  the  Interior.  Its  Director  classiiies  the  public  lands, 
examines  their  geological  structure,  their  mineral  resources 
and  mineral  products,  and  surveys  the  forest  reserves.  Topo- 
graphical and  geological  maps  are  prepared  by  the  Bureau, 
and  in  connection  with  the  Bureau  of  Mines  (established  in 
191 1),  mine  accidents  are  investigated  with  a  view  to  pre- 
vention, ores  and  explosives  are  made  known,  mineral  fuels 
and  structural  materials  are  tested,  and  waters,  on  the  surface 
and  underground,  are  investigated.' 

Department  of  Agriculture 

This  department  has  existed  since  1862,  but  was  not  made  a 
Cabinet  Department  until  1889.  It  controls  the  Weather 
Bureau,  the  Bureau  of  Animal  Husbandry,  the  Bureau  of 
Plant  Industry.  The  first  forecasts  the  weather  and  gives 
notice  of  storms,  cold  waves,  heat  waves,  frosts,  and  floods. 
The  second  inspects  animals  and  meat  products,  inspects 
vessels  offered  for  the  transportation  of  animals,  quarantines 
against  diseases  among  live  stock,  and  reports  means  of  im- 
proving the  animal  industries  of  the  country.  The  third  con- 
siders plant  life  in  relation  to  agriculture.  It  studies  the 
diseases  of  plants  and  seeks  to  prevent  them;  it  carries  on 
demonstration  farms  in  efforts  to  secure  crop  improvement 
and  better  methods  of  farming.     Its  agents  explore  foreign 


THE  RELATION  OF  THE  PRESIDENT  TO  CONGRESS     319 

countries  for  new  plants  and  seeds  and  fruits,  and  for  better 
methods  in  planting,  harvesting,  handling,  and  marketing.^ 

The  department  also  has  a  Bureau  of  Forestry  and  a  Bureau 
of  Chemistry.  The  first  seeks  to  give  information  on  conserving 
all  forest  lands,  on  forest  planting  and  tree  culture,  and  the 
prevention  of  forest  fires.  The  Bureau  of  Chemistry  inves- 
tigates fertilizers,  agricultural  products,  and  foodstuffs.  It 
seeks  to  enforce  the  Pure  Food  Law  of  1906  by  examining 
foods  and  drugs  and  imposing  penalties  for  adulteration  or 
misbranding. 

Department  of  Commerce 

This  department  was  made  a  separate  department  in  1903. 
It  is  charged  with  promoting  commerce,  mining,  manufactur- 
ing, shipping,  fisheries,  and  transportation.  The  department 
has  under  its  charge  (i)  the  Bureau  of  Corporations,  which  may 
investigate  the  conduct  of  any  corporation  engaged  in  in- 
terstate or  foreign  commerce  (except  railroads);  (2)  the 
Bureau  of  Foreign  and  Domestic  Commerce,  charged  with 
collecting  and  publishing  statistics  on  these  subjects  and  with 
promoting   the   commercial   interests   of   the   United    States; 

(3)  the  Bureau  of  Lighthouses,  to  maintain  protective  signals; 

(4)  the  Steamboat  Inspection  Service,  to  inspect  and  license 
vessels  to  promote  safety  in  navigation;  (5)  the  Census 
Bureau,  charged  with  compiling  all  the  varied  information 
contained  in  the  decennial  census ;  (6)  the  Bureau  of  Fisheries, 
charged  with  the  propagation  of  useful  food  fishes,  the  in- 
vestigation of  fishing  grounds  and  the  care  of  Alaskan  salmon 
fisheries  and  seal  herds;  (7)  the  Coast  and  Geodetic  Survey, 
charged  with  surveying  and  charting  the  coasts;  (8)  the  Bureau 
of  Navigation,  charged  with  overseeing  the  commercial  marine, 
issuing  licenses,  and  collecting  tonnage  taxes ;  (9)  the  Bureau  of 
Standards,  charged  with  testing  and  comparing  all  standards 
used  in  scientific  investigations,  in  commerce  and  in  educational 
institutions,  with  the  standards  adopted  and  recognized  by 
the  Government. 

^  See  pp.  79-80. 


320  THE  CITIZEN   AND  THE   REPUBLIC 

The  Department  of  Labor 

In  1913  the  Department  of  Labor  was  made  a  separate 
department.  It  was  combined  with  the  Department  of  Com- 
merce from  1903  to  1913.  The  object  of  its  creation  was  "to 
foster,  promote,  and  develop  the  welfare  of  the  wage  earners  of 
the  United  States,  to  improve  their  working  conditions,  and 
to  advance  their  opportunities  for  profitable  employment." 
In  this  department  have  been  placed  the  Children's  Bureau, 
the  Bureau  of  Labor  Statistics,  the  Bureau  of  Immigration, 
and  the  Bureau  of  Naturalization.  The  Bureau  of  Labor 
Statistics  is  charged  with  the  duty  of  collecting  and  reporting 
once  a  year  "full  and  complete  statistics  of  the  conditions  of 
labor  and  the  products  and  distribution  of  the  products  of 
the  same."  The  Children's  Bureau,  established  in  191 2, 
investigates  all  matters  pertaining  to  the  welfare  of  children 
and  child  life. 

Independent  Bureaus  and  Institutions 

Besides  those  mentioned  under  the  various  executive  de- 
partments there  are  a  number  of  independent  bureaus  and 
institutions: 

The  Smithsonian  Institution,  established  in  1846,  by  the  will 
of  James  Smithson,  "for  the  increase  and  diffusion  of  knowl- 
edge among  men."  It  seeks  to  promote  original  scientific 
research. 

The  National  Museum,  organized  to  preserve  objects  of  art, 
collections,  and  specimens  relating  to  geology,  ethnology, 
and  mineralogy. 

The  Civil  Service  Commission,  charged  with  conducting  the 
competitive  examination  of  applicants  for  appointment  to 
the  classified  civil  service. 

The  Interstate  Commerce  Commission,  of  seven  members, 
each  receiving  an  annual  salary  of  $10,000,  for  terms  of  seven 
years.     This  Commission,  one  of  the  most  important  under 


THE  RELATION  OF  THE  PRESIDENT  TO  CONGRESS     321 

the  Government,  was  first  established  in  1887,  and  its 
powers  were  enlarged  in  1906  and  1910.  It  is  composed  of 
seven  members,  appointed  by  the  President  and  confirmed  by 
the  Senate.  It  has  power  to  fix  maximum  railway  rates  for 
freight  and  passenger  trafiic  and  to  declare  what  rates  are 
"reasonable."  The  Commission  regulates  all  the  inter-state 
business  of  what  is  known  as  "common  carriers,"  —  i.e. 
railways,  trolley  lines,  freight  cars,  puUman  sleepers,  express 
companies,  telephone  and  telegraph  companies.  If  shippers 
complain  of  abuses,  the  Commission  may  investigate  and 
obtain  some  remedy.  Formerly  there  were  discriminations 
in  rates,  secret  rebates  to  favored  corporations,  and  abuses 
in  charges.  Railroad  companies  owned  stock  in  coal  mines 
and  stone  quarries  and  gave  their  own  companies  special 
freight  rates.  These  things  are  now  illegal  and  punishable. 
Thus  the  Government  through  this  Commission  regulates 
the  carriers  and  seeks  to  obtain  fairness  and  justice  to  the 
public.^ 

The  Federal  Trade  Commission  consists  of  five  members, 
appointed  for  terms  of  seven  years  by  the  President  and  the 
Senate.  The  Commission  is  authorized  to  investigate  the 
methods  of  any  person,  partnership,  or  corporation  not  en- 
gaged in  banking  or  railway  business  which  has  been  or  is 
using  any  unfair  method  of  competition  in  commerce,  if  action 
to  stop  such  method  "would  be  of  interest  to  the  public." 
This  power  is  subject  to  review  in  the  Federal  Courts. 

The  Government  Printing  Office,  charged  with  the  printing, 
binding,  and  press  work  on  all  Government  publications. 

The  Library  of  Congress,  a  great  reference  library,  the  third 
largest  collection  of  books  in  the  world. 

1  For  the  period  of  the  World  War  the  Government  has  taken  upon 
itself  the  operation  and  control  of  the  Railroads  and  placed  them  under 
the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury.  Rates,  wages,  meeting  expenses,  paying 
dividends  on  stock,  and  the  general  management  of  the  roads  is  now  the 
business  of  the  Government.  Whether  this  is  to  be  a  permanent  policy 
will  probably  not  be  determined  until  after  the  war  is  ended. 


322  THE  CITIZEN  AND  THE  REPUBLIC 

TOPICS  AND    QUERIES 

1.  What  are  the  advantages  in  having  the  President  and  Congress 

in  party  harmony?     What  causes  a  lack  of  harmony? 

2.  Are  the  opposition  party  leaders  in  Congress  justified  in  trying  to 

"put  the  President  in  a  hole"?     Why  do  they  seek  to  do  so? 

3.  Explain  the  evil  results  that  come  from  the  President's  inducing 

members  of  Congress  to  support  his  policies  by  allowing  them  to 
control  appointments  to  office. 

4.  To  what  extent  is  the  President  justified  in  attempting  to  control, 

or  lead,  the  action  of  Congress?     Show  how  the  relation  of  the 
President   to   Congress   has   changed   since   Washington's   time. 
How  do  you  account  for  the  change? 
Notice  the  topics  and  queries  at  the  close  of  the  preceding  chapter. 

REFERENCES 

For  "Executive  and  Congress"  consult  Reinsch,  Paul  L.  Readings  on 
American  Federal  Government,  Chap.  Ill;  on  "Financial  Legis- 
lation," Chap.  VIII;   on  "The  Departments,"  Chap.  IX. 

Finley  and  Sanderson.  The  American  Execulive  and  Executive  Methods, 
Chaps.  XV-XVII. 

Forman,  S.  E.     Advanced  Civics,  Chaps.  XVIII,  XIX. 

Guitteau,  W.  B.  Government  and  Politics  in  the  United  States,  Chap. 
XXVIII. 

Leup,  Francis  E.  The  Cabinet  in  Congress  in  Atlantic  Monthly,  Decem- 
ber, 1917. 

Macy  and  Ganaway.  Comparative  Free  Government,  Chap.  VII,  "The 
President  and  Legislation."  Chap.  VIII,  "The  President's 
Cabinet."     Chap.  IX,  "National  Administration." 

Wilson,  Woodrow.  Constitutional  Government  in  the  United  States, 
Chap.  III. 

Woodburn,  James  A.      The  American  Republic,  Chap.  III. 

Young,  J.  T.     The  New  American  Government,  Chaps,  II,  V. 


CHAPTER  XVII 
THE   JUDICIARY 

We  have  considered  the  executive  and  the  legislative 
divisions  of  our  government:  the  judiciary  is  the  third  divi- 
sion. Under  the  Old  Confederation  there  was  no  national 
judiciary.  Law  suits  were  attended  to  in  the  States  and  dis- 
putes between  the  States  were  settled  by  Congress  or  by  a 
committee  of  Congress.  One  of  the  most  important  changes 
made  by  the  new  Constitution  came  from  making  this  "Con- 
stitution and  the  laws  and  treaties  made  in  pursuance  thereof 
the  supreme  law  of  the  land"  and  in  authorizing  the  erection 
of  courts  for  trying,  condemning,  and  punishing  men  for  vio- 
lating national  law.  It  was  this  fact  more  than  anything  else 
that  made  the  new  government  a  real  government  and  made 
the  citizens  of  the  State  also  citizens  of  the  United  States  and 
subject  to  its  jurisdiction.  Any  laws  the  United  States  might 
pass  would  be  a  dead  letter  if  there  were  no  courts  to  expound 
their  meaning  or  put  them  into  operation  by  a  system  of 
pains  and  penalties. 

Under  the  Confederation  the  United  States  had  to  rely 
upon  the  States  for  the  performance  of  these  functions.  If 
the  Tories  were  to  be  restrained  or  restored  to  their  estates; 
if  debts  due  British  merchants  were  to  be  collected;  if  our 
treaty  agreements  were  to  be  enforced ;  or  if  anyone  robbed  the 
mail,  counterfeited  money,  or  threatened  Congress  with  vio- 
lence, there  were  no  national  courts  by  which  these  things 
could  be  attended  to  or  the  criminals  brought  to  justice. 
The  State  courts  had  to  be  called  on  for  assistance  in  carrying 

323 


"The  Supreme 
Law  of  the 
Land" 


Lack  of  Law- 
enforcing 
Power  in  the 
Courts 
under  the 
Confederation 


324 


THE  CITIZEN  AND  THE   REPUBLIC 


National  Law 
operates 
directly  over 
Individuals 


out  the  law,  and  these  were  often  ineffective,  as  the  States  were 
not  anxious  to  have  the  national  powers  asserted  and  increased. 
No  influence  has  been  more  powerful  for  nationalization,  for 
establishing  and  enlarging  the  powers  of  the  national  Govern- 
ment, than  the  work  of  the  judiciary  in  the  operation  of  the 
national  courts.  The  interpretation  of  the  Constitution  by 
the  courts,  and  the  notable  decisions  of  John  Marshall,  the 
great  Chief  Justice  (1801-1835),  did  more  to  reduce  "States' 
rights"  and  to  exalt  national  power  than  any  other  in- 
fluence in  the  early  history  of  the  Constitution,  in  the  days 
when  the  new  government  was  on  trial  in  its  experimental 
period. 

It  was  not  only  the  greater  powers  of  Congress  and  the  in- 
creased vigor  of  the  Executive  which  made  the  new  government 
more  effective  than  the  Old  Confederation  and  enabled  it  to 
assert  its  authority  and  to  live  in  the  face  of  a  disposition  in 
the  States  to  resist  that  authority  and  dissolve  the  Union, 
but  the  national  judiciary  has  done  its  full  share  in  this  direc- 
tion. The  greater  power  of  the  new  government  came  not 
from  giving  the  United  States  the  power  to  "coerce  a  State" 
or  to  veto  the  acts  of  the  States.  Both  of  these  powers  were 
proposed,  but  they  were  denied  to  the  United  States  by  the 
convention.  But  when  the  United  States  was  empowered 
to  enforce  its  own  laws  through  its  own  courts,  then  vetoing  a 
State  law  or  coercing  a  State  became  unnecessary.  If  a  State 
passes  an  act  contrary  to  the  national  Constitution,  the  courts 
of  the  United  States  declare  it  unconstitutional;  it  is  then 
no  law  at  all  and  no  one  is  bound  by  it.  And  if  the  govern- 
ment of  a  State,  or  the  citizens  of  a  State,  attempt  to  resist 
the  laws  of  the  United  States  the  United  States  Government 
may  then  lawfully  proceed  not  to  "coerce  a  State"  but  to 
suppress  its  own  citizens  in  insurrection.  So,  through  the 
courts,  backed  by  the  executive  power,  the  United  States 
acts  directly  upon  its  citizens.  The  citizen  owes  allegiance 
not  only  to  the  State  but  to  the  United  States. 


THE  JUDICIARY 


325 


Kinds  of  Federal  Courts 

The  judicial  power  of  the  United  States  is  vested  in  one 
Supreme  Court  and  in  such  inferior  courts  as  Congress  may 
from  time  to  time  estabUsh.  The  small  States  did  not  wish 
to  allow  the  creation  of  any  lower  national  courts.  They 
claimed  that  nearly  all  the  legal  business  would  belong  to  the 
State  courts  and  there  would  be  but  little  for  the  national 
courts  to  do.  It  was  thought  that  the  courts  of  the  United 
States  would  be  only  appellate  in  their  jurisdiction;  that  is, 
they  would  try  only  such  cases  as  were  appealed  from  the 
State  courts,  and  it  was  contended  that  the  Supreme  Court 
would  be  able  to  attend  to  all  such  cases.  The  growth  of 
national  interests  and  national  law  was  not  foreseen. 

The  Justices  of  the  Supreme  Court  and  also  the  Judges  of 
the  inferior  courts  are  appointed  by  the  President  and  con- 
firmed by  the  Senate.  The  Justices  of  the  Supreme  Court 
are  now  nine  in  number  (originally  six),  a  Chief  Justice  with 
a  salary  of  $15,000  and  eight  Associate  Justices  with  salaries 
of  $14,500  each.  The  judges  of  the  courts  hold  their  offices 
during  life,  or  good  behavior.  They  are  removable  only  by 
impeachment.  The  compensation  for  their  services  may 
not  be  diminished  during  their  continuance  in  office.  The 
judge  should  be  independent  and  not  be  led  to  rely  on  the  favor 
or  power  of,  or  be  subservient  in  any  way  to,  any  other  arm  of 
the  government. 

There  are  three  classes  of  Federal  Courts:  i.  The  Supreme 
Court.  2.  Circuit  or  Courts  of  Appeal.  3.  District  Courts.^ 
The  Supreme  Court  is  required  by  the  Constitution.  The 
creation  of  other  courts  was  left  to  the  discretion  of  Congress, 
There  are  now  twenty-nine  United  States  Circuit  Judges, 
and  ninety-one  District  Judges.  The  Circuit  Judges  have  a 
salary  of  $7000,  the  District  Judges  $6000.     A  United  States 

^  There  is  also  a  Court  of  Claims,  erected  after  the  Civil  War  to  pass 
upon  claims  against  the  United  States  Government. 


Where  is  the 
Judicial  Power 
vested? 


Appointment, 
Tenure  and 
Compensation : 
Independence 
of  the  Judiciary 


Classes  of 
Federal  Courts 


326 


THE   CITIZEN   AND  THE   REPUBLIC 


judge  who  has  served  at  least  ten  years  may  retire  at  the  age 
of  seventy  and  continue  to  draw  his  full  salary  for  the  rest 
of  his  life. 

Work  of  the  Federal  Courts 

There  are  several  kinds  of  cases  coming  within  the  juris- 
diction of  the  Federal  courts.  In  general  they  were  intended 
to  be  only  those  relating  to  the  peace  and  common  interest 
Kinds  of  Cases  ^f  ^\-^q  Union  and  interstate  and  foreign  affairs,  such  as  cases 
F°edirfi  Courts  affecting  ambassadors  and  consuls,  sea  cases  touching  prizes 
and  piracy,  and  controversies  to  which  the  United  States  is 
a  party  or  between  two  or  more  States,  or  between  a  State 
and  citizens  of  another  State,  or  between  citizens  of  different 
States.'  This  left  the  great  body  of  ordinary  law  cases  to 
the  State  courts.  But  the  general  provision  was  made  that 
"all  cases  of  law  and  equity"  to  which  the  Constitution, 
laws  and  treaties  of  the  United  States  apply  may  be  tried 
in  the  United  States  courts.  Under  this  provision  the  scope 
of  national  powers  and  jurisdiction  has  been  greatly  en- 
larged. A  case  arising  in  a  State  court  may  be  transferred 
to  a  Federal  court  if  either  party  to  the  suit  questions  the 
decision  of  the  State  court  and  if  the  case  is  one  to  which 
national  law  applies. 

The  rule  for  transferring  cases  from  State  to  Federal  courts 
was  laid  down  by  the  Judiciary  Act  of  1789.  If  the  State 
court  has  decided  against  the  validity  of  a  Federal  law  or 
authority  or  if  a  State  court  has  decided  in  favor  of  a  State 
law  or  authority  which  is  held  to  be  contrary  to  the  Con- 
stitution and  laws  of  the  United  States,  or  if  the  State  court 
decision  is  against  any  right  or  privilege  which  either  party 
to  the  suit  claims  for  himself  under  the  laws  and  Constitution 
of  the  United  States,  then  the  case  may  be  transferred  to  the 
Federal  court  for  trial  or  review.  Thus  the  Federal  court  has 
a  chance  to  assert  its  final  authority  and  vindicate  the  national 

1  See  Const.,  Art.  Ill,  Sect.  2. 


When  Cases 
may  be 
transferred 
from  State  to 
Federal  Courts 


The  Eleventh 
Amendment : 


THE  JUDICIARY  327 

power.  The  principle  is  that  State  construction  unfavorable 
to  Federal  authority  may  be  reviewed  by  Federal  construction, 
while  State  construction  favorable  to  Federal  authority  needs 
no  review,  the  Federal  authority  being  already  vindicated. 

The  Federal  authority  is  the  final  judge  of  the  extent  of  its 
own  powers  and  within  its  legal  sphere  (as  the  Supreme  Court 
may  define  it)  the  United  States  law  operates  of  its  own  right 
and  no  State  decision  or  authority  may  resist  it.^ 

At  first  a  citizen  of  one  State  was  allowed  to  sue  another 
State  in  a  United  States  court.  But  the  Eleventh  Amendment 
now  prevents  this.  It  was  not  expected  that  the  Constitution 
would  be  so  construed  as  to  allow  a  citizen  to  sue  a  State,  — 
that  would  tend  to  violate  the  independence  and  dignity  of  the 
State.  But  this  right  of  the  citizen  as  against  a  State  was 
asserted  by  a  decision  of  the  Supreme  Court  in  the  celebrated 
case  of  Chrisholm  vs.  Georgia,  decided  in  1793.  Chrisholm,  chrishoim  vs. 
a  citizen  of  South  Carolina,  sued  Georgia  in  the  United  States  Georgia.  1793 
court  on  a  claim.  Georgia  refused  to  appear  in  court,  where- 
upon the  Supreme  Court,  Chief  Justice  Jay  rendering  the 
decision,  construed  the  Constitution  in  such  a  way  that  the 
national  authority,  by  implied  powers,  became  greater  than  was 
expected.  This  offended  and  alarmed  the  people  of  the  States. 
They  did  not  wish  to  have  their  "sovereign  States"  (as  they 
were  then  thought  of)  dragged  into  an  outside  court  by  private 
plaintiffs.  So  the  eleventh  amendment  was  quickly  adopted, 
and  declared  in  effect  in  1798,  which  provides  that  the  judicial 
power  of  the  United  States  shall  not  be  construed  to  extend 
to  any  suit  against  one  of  the  United  States  by  citizens  of  any 
other  State,  domestic  or  foreign. 

Under  the  shelter  of  this  amendment  several  States  have 
been  able  with  impunity  to  repudiate  their  debts.  The 
national  Government  cannot  compel  a  State  to  pay  its  debts, 

1  A  person  arrested  by  a  Federal  officer  may  not  be  released  by  a  State 
court  on  a  writ  of  habeas  corpus.  See  Booth  z;^.  Ableman,  21  Howard 
S16. 


328 


THE  CITIZEN   AND  THE   REPUBLIC 


Other  Cases 
arising  in 
Federal  Coiirts 


No  Common 

Law 

Jurisdiction 


Conflict  of 

Laws 

Prevented 


and  no  State  can  be  sued  without  its  own  consent  and  then  only 
in  its  own  courts.  If  State  bonds  held  by  citizens  of  foreign 
countries  were  repudiated  we  might  get  into  difficulty  with 
foreign  powers  on  this  account.  So  it  has  been  claimed  that 
in  all  matters  where  our  relations  with  foreign  powers  are  in- 
volved the  jurisdiction  of  the  United  States  should  be  supreme. 
If  State  bonds  held  by  citizens  were  transferred  to  a  State, 
payment  on  them  might  be  enforced  in  the  United  States 
courts,  since  one  State  may  sue  another  in  the  national  courts. 
Other  kinds  of  cases  that  may  come  up  in  Federal  courts 
are  those  arising  from  controversies  (a)  between  two  or  more 
States;  (b)  between  citizens  of  different  States;  (c)  be- 
tween citizens  of  the  same  States  claiming  lands  under  grant 
from  different  States;  (d)  between  a  State  or  its  citizens 
and  a  foreign  country  or  its  citizens. 

The  jurisdiction  of  the  Federal  courts  is  statutory.     That 
is,  their  jurisdiction  is  not  derived  from  common  law,  —  from 
precedents,  former  decisions,  and  the  law   of  custom,  —  but 
from  the  Constitution  and  the  statutes  made  in  accordance 
with  the  Constitution.     Their  powers  are  to  be  found  in  the 
written  law,  not  in  the  general  principles  and  usages  of  law. 
A  Federal  law  appHcable  to  a  case  prevails  in  that  case 
against  any  State  law,  and  whether  a  Federal  law  applies  is 
to  be  decided  by  a  Federal  Court.     This  prevents  any  clashing 
of  authority  between  State  and  Federal  courts,  and  the  two 
jurisdictions  work  together  in  harmony  over  the  same  people 
at  the  same  time.     If  a  Federal  court  has  occasion  to  apply 
State  law  in  any  case,  it  always  follows  the  former  decisions 
of  State  courts.     National  judges  always  respect  the  decisions 
of  State  judges  on  State  law.     A  Federal  act  cannot  impose 
functions  and  duties  upon  a  State  court;  the  State  may  refuse 
to  accept  and  discharge  these  duties.     The  Federal  law  must 
supply  its  own  officers  and  machinery.^     The  first  fugitive  slave 
act  (1793)  relied  upon  State  courts  and  officers  for  its  execu- 
1  See  Prigg  vs.  Pennsylvania. 


THE  JUDICIARY 


329 


tion  and  for  that  reason,  after  the  anti-slavery  spirit  arose  in 
the  free  States,  it  became  a  dead  letter;  many  States  refused 
their  help  in  carrying  out  the  law. 

In  each  of  the  United  States  District  Courts  there  is  a  United 
States  District  Attorney  who  prosecutes  violations  of  the  law 
in  his  district.     Each  district  has  a  United   States  Marshal    United  states 

o,       •  rr   •  Attorneys  and 

who  does  such  work  as  is  performed  by  a  Sheriff  m  a  State    Marshals 
court.     He   arrests   offenders   and    executes    the   orders   and 
carries  out  the  decisions  of  the  court.     Each  court  also  has 
a  clerk,  appointed  by  the  court.     The  District  Attorney  and 
the  Marshal  are  appointed  by  the  President. 

Power  to  Declare   Legislative  Acts 
Unconstitutional 

The  most  important  power  of  the  judiciary,  from  a  political 
point  of  view,  is  that  of  declaring  legislative  acts  unconsti- 
tutional. When  this  is  done  the  acts  are  "null  and  void,"  and 
of  no  force,  as  if  they  had  never  been  passed.  This  power 
may  be  exercised  by  the  Federal  judiciary  not  only  toward 
acts  of  Congress  but  toward  acts  of  the  State  legislatures. 
Much  discussion  has  been  indulged  in  over  the  question  as 
to  whether  the  framers  of  our  Government  intended  to  confer 
this  important  power  on  the  courts.  In  1 803  in  the  celebrated 
case  of  Marbury  vs.  Madison,  Chief  Justice  Marshall  explicitly 
declared  for  the  first  time  that  an  act  of  Congress  which,  in 
the  judgment  of  the  Supreme  Court,  violated  the  Constitution, 
was  null  and  void. 

In  the  notable  Marbury  decision  in  which  this  doctrine  was 
laid  down  Chief  Justice  Marshall  said: 

"The  powers  of  the  legislature  are  defined  and  limited:  that  the 
limits  may  not  be  mistaken  or  forgotten  the  Constitution  is  written. 
To  what  purpose  are  powers  limited  and  to  what  purpose  is  that  limi- 
tation committed  to  writing  if  those  limits  may  at  any  time  be  passed 
by  those  intended  to  be  restrained?  The  distinction  between  a  govern- 
ment of  Umited  and  one  of  unlimited  powers  is  abolished  if  those 


330 


THE   CITIZEN   AND  THE   REPUBLIC 


Who  should 
be  the  Final 
Judge  of 
what  is 
constitutioaal? 


limits  do  not  confine  the  person  on  whom  they  are  imposed.  .  .  . 
Certainly  all  those  who  have  framed  written  constitutions  con- 
template them  as  forming  the  fundamental  paramount  law  of  the 
nation,  and  consequently  the  theory  of  every  such  government  must 
be  that  an  act  of  the  legislature  repugnant  to  the  Constitution  is 
void.  This  theory  is  essentially  attached  to  a  written  constitution 
and  is  consequently  to  be  considered  by  this  court  as  one  of  those 
fundamental  principles  of  our  society." 

This  passage  is  a  good  specimen  of  Chief  Justice  Marshall's 
close  powers  of  reasoning  and  of  forcible  statement.  He  then 
argued  that  it  was  emphatically  the  province  of  the  judiciary 
to  say  what  the  Constitution  is,  that  is,  what  it  permits  or 
forbids.  It  is  upon  this  point  that  his  contention  has  been 
most  stoutly  opposed. 

A  few  years  later  in  several  other  cases  the  Supreme  Court 
asserted  its  power  to  declare  void  acts  of  State  legislatures 
which  it  deemed  unconstitutional.^  This  alarmed  Jefferson 
and  the  States  right's  party,  who  were  afraid  that  the  Supreme 
Court,  if  it  were  allowed  to  exercise  this  power  of  overruling 
State  and  national  acts,  would  become  such  a  powerful  arm 
of  the  national  Government  that  the  people  would  lose  con- 
trol over  their  own  laws.  Such  a  power  would  make  the  courts 
superior  to  the  political  arm  of  the  government,  —  more 
powerful  than  Congress  and  the  President  combined.  Jeffer- 
son therefore  urged  more  effective  popular  control  of  the 
courts,  by  popular  election  and  for  shorter  terms,  and  by 
some  easier  mode  of  removal. 

All  admitted  that  unconstitutional  laws  were  not  permissible 
and  that  they  should  not  bind  the  people.  But  the  question 
was,  who  should  finally  decide  whether  measures,  proposed 
or  passed,  were  really  constitutional.  There  are  usually  pro- 
nounced differences  of  opinion  on  such  a  matter,  even  within 

1  See  United  States  vs.  Judge  Peters  (1819),  Martin  vs.  Hunter's 
Lessee  (1816),  McCulloch  vs.  Maryland  (1S19),  and  Cohen  vs.  Virginia 
(1821). 


THE  JUDICIARY  331 

the  Supreme  Court  itself.  Is  Congress  authorized  under  the 
Constitution  to  pass  such  or  such  a  measure,  or  is  the  President 
authorized  to  approve  it?  They  may  not  pass  or  approve 
acts  which  they  think  are  unconstitutional,  —  that  would  be  to 
violate  their  oath  to  support  the  Constitution,  —  but  in  con- 
sidering the  passing  of  laws  each  department  of  the  govern- 
ment —  Congress  and  the  President  —  may  act  upon  its  own 
judgment  of  the  Constitution  and  they  are  not  bound  by  any 
decision  of  the  Judiciary.  But  if  an  act  is  favored  and  is 
passed  by  both  Congress  and  the  President,  the  Supreme 
Court  has  the  final  decision  as  to  its  constitutionality,  if  a  case 
involving  the  validity  of  the  act  comes  before  the  court.  So 
it  has  become  the  custom  and  the  law  in  America  that  the 
Supreme  Court  is  "the  final  and  authoritative  interpreter  of 
the  Constitution." 

The  constitutional  governments  of  Europe  do  not  permit 
such  a  power  to  rest  with  the  judiciary.  In  England  Parha- 
ment  is  supreme.  This  involves  "legislative  supremacy" 
and  the  subordination  of  the  courts  to  the  will  of  the  law-    ''Legislative 

Supremacy" 

making  body.  The  American  system,  or  practice,  is  usually  compared  with 
spoken  of  as  involving  "judicial  supremacy."  Any  act  g^"^**J^^|,  „ 
Parliament  passes  is  constitutional,  and  no  court  would  pre- 
sume to  set  it  aside.  If  a  political  leader  in  Parliament  de- 
nounces a  proposed  measure  as-"  unconstitutional,"  he  merely 
means  that  it  is  contrary  to  precedent,  to  custom  and  usage, 
and  that  no  such  act  has  ever  been  passed  before.  He  may 
be  right;  but  if  Parliament  passes  the  measure  it  becomes  con- 
stitutional. That  is,  it  becomes  a  part  of  the  constitution, 
since  the  constitution  in  England  is  made  up  of  custom, 
usage,  decisions,  and  acts  of  Parliament.  All  laws  are  a  part 
of  the  constitution  and  are  of  equal  authority,  —  all  are 
passed  by  Parliament  and  all  may  be  repealed  by  Parliament, 
and  the  courts  instead  of  setting  any  of  them  aside  as  "uncon- 
stitutional" invariably  accept  them  and  apply  them  in  cases 
that  may  arise. 


332 


THE  CITIZEN  AND  THE  REPUBLIC 


statute  Law 
must  not 
violate 

Fundamental 
Law 


Four  Idnds  of 
American    Law 


The  Law  of  the 
Constitution   is 
decided  as 
Cases  arise 


If  English  judges  find  an  act  conflicting  with  a  previous 
court  decision  they  prefer  the  act  to  the  decision  as  being  of 
higher  authority.  If  they  find  two  acts  of  ParHament  con- 
flicting they  merely  look  at  the  date  of  each  and  the  later  act 
prevails,  as  "the  last  expression  of  the  mind  of  Parliament." 
There  is  no  such  thing  as  an  invalid  act  of  Parliament. 

The  American  idea  of  "judicial  supremacy"  does  not 
mean  that  the  judicial  department  is  superior  to  the  legisla- 
tive, but  only  that  the  fundamental  law  as  established  by  the 
people  in  their  constitutions  is  superior  to  both.  The  theory 
is  that  when  a  legislative  act  is  declared  to  be  unconstitutional 
there  is  no  conflict  between  the  legislative  and  judicial  de- 
partments; the  conflict  is  merely  between  two  kinds  of  law. 
The  judiciary  must  say  what  the  law  is,  and  see  to  it  that  no  act 
is  repugnant  to  the  supreme  law  of  the  land,  —  which  must 
prevail.  But,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  the  interpretation  of  the 
judiciary  is  made  superior  to  that  of  the  legislative  or  of  the 
executive  arm,  and  this  brings  about  "judicial  supremacy." 

There  are  four  kinds  of  American  law:  (i)  The  Federal 
Constitution;  (2)  Federal  statutes;  (3)  State  constitution; 
(4)  State  statutes.  The  Federal  Constitution  is  the  supreme 
law  and  all  other  kinds  of  law  must  be  in  harmony  therewith. 
If  two  laws  conflict,  not  the  later  law  (as  in  England)  but  the 
higher  law  prevails,  and  the  lower  authority  must  give  way. 
The  court  merely  states  what  the  higher  law  requires  and  shows 
wherein  the  lower  law  (the  statute)  is  inconsistent  with  this. 
The  judge's  decision  must  stand  by  the  fundamental  laws 
rather  than  by  those  that  are  not  fundamental.  So  the 
theory  is  that  it  is  the  law,  not  the  will  of  the  judges,  that 
prevails. 

The  Justices  of  the  Supreme  Court  will  not  express  an  opinion 
upon  the  constitutionality  of  a  law  in  advance  of  a  case  arising 
under  it,  nor  upon  any  measure  pending  in  Congress.  The 
court  never  "goes  to  meet  a  question."  It  waits  till  the  ques- 
tion is  brought  before  it  by  a  suit  at  law,  or  a  test  case.     It  will 


THE  JUDICIARY  333 

not  seek  to  influence  or  interfere  with  a  coordinate  department 
of  the  government.  Also  the  Supreme  Court  has  endeav- 
ored throughout  its  history,  and  for  the  most  part  success- 
fully, to  keep  clear  of  politics.  There  have  been  exceptions 
in  a  few  historic  cases  and  these  have  led  the  court  to  become   '^^^  Supreme 

Court  and 

involved  in  political  criticism  and  opposition.  When  the  pouhcs 
Court  assumed  to  decide  on  the  limits  of  power  between  the 
State  and  national  Governments,  on  the  constitutionality 
of  the  Second  United  States  Bank,  on  the  power  of  the  State 
to  control  the  Indians  within  its  borders,  on  whether  Congress 
had  power  to  prevent  slavery  in  the  territories  ^  or  issue 
greenbacks  or  impose  an  income  tax,  and  on  some  other  cases, 
much  criticism  and  hostility  were  aroused  among  those  opposed 
to  the  decisions.  The  consequence  is  that  the  Supreme  Court 
has  been  denounced  at  times  for  entering  politics  and  attempt- 
ing to  control  the  public  policy  of  the  country.  The  same 
feeling  has  been  aroused  against  the  courts  in  the  States,  and 
the  recent  proposals  for  the  "recall  of  judges"  and  the  "recall 
of  judicial  decisions "  has  come  out  of  this  feeling  (see  p.  44). 
On  the  whole,  the  Supreme  Court  has  won  the  confidence  of 
the  people,  and  so  long  as  it  interprets  the  law  and  explains 
its  meaning  and  does  not  interfere  in  the  political  function  of 
making  or  unmaking  the  law  the  people  are  satisfied  to  look 
to  that  court  as  the  supreme  arbiter,  not  in  political  disputes, 
but  in  deciding  the  scope  and  meaning  of  the  law.  There 
is  a  strong  public  sentiment  which  demands  that  a  Justice  of 
the  Supreme  Court  should  be  entirely  free  from  politics  or 
political  ambition.  If  he  aspires  to  a  political  office,  like  the 
presidency,  his  decisions  are  likely  to  be  rendered,  or  used  by 
his  supporters,  for  party  purposes.  A  political  party  might 
attempt  to  capitaUze  the  judicial  decisions  of  its  candidate, 
and  that  would  seriously  violate  the  spirit  of  the  Supreme 
Court.  It  might  lead  to  the  rendering  of  decisions  for  party 
purposes.  The  integrity  of  the  court  is  of  the  highest  concern 
^  By  the  Dred  Scott  opinion. 


334 


THE  CITIZEN  AND  THE   REPUBLIC 


The  Supreme 
Court  may 
reverse  its 
own  Decisions 


How  the 
Political 
Branches  of  the 
Government 
may  control 
the  Judiciary 


Danger  of 

Political 

Control 


and  no  ambition  for  elective  office  should  be  permitted  to 
influence  the  judgment  of  that  tribunal. 

Occasionally  the  Supreme  Court  has  reversed  its  own 
decisions.  A  new  case  may  be  brought  before  it,  judges  may 
change  their  minds,  the  membership  of  the  court  may  change, 
and  a  later  decision,  quite  different  from  a  former  one,  may  be 
made  on  the  same  act.  In  the  income  tax  case  in  1895  the 
court  by  a  vote  of  five  to  four,  after  one  judge  changed  his 
mind,  reversed  former  decisions  on  this  subject,  and  that  which 
had  been  constitutional  for  a  hundred  years  became  uncon- 
stitutional.    The  court's  opinion  decided  the  matter. 

A  reversal  of  decision  also  happened  in  the  greenback  cases 
after  the  Civil  War,  after  the  Supreme  Court  had  been  in- 
creased in  number  and  two  new  judges  had  been  appointed. 
This  indicates  a  weak  point  in  the  armor  of  the  court  and  shows 
how  it  may  be  controlled,  if  the  people  permit,  by  the  political 
branches  of  the  government.  It  is  within  the  power  of  Con- 
gress and  the  President  to  "pack"  it  if  they  have  a  mind  to 
do  so.  The  number  of  the  court  may  be  increased  by  act  of 
Congress  from  nine  to  fifteen,  or  to  any  other  convenient  num- 
ber. If  Congress  and  the  President  representing  the  people 
are  united  and  determined  to  do  what  the  court  asserts  to  be 
unconstitutional  (without  waiting  for  an  amendment  to  the 
Constitution)  they  have  only  to  increase  the  membership 
and  let  the  President  fill  the  new  places  on  the  court  with 
judges  who  will  give  the  desired  opinion.  Since  the  opinion 
of  the  new  appointees  might  be  known  in  advance,  almost  any 
decision  that  it  is  desired  to  have  reversed  might  be  reversed 
in  this  way. 

This  would  be  a  radical,  not  to  say  revolutionary,  process 
and  would  be  approved  by  the  people  only  under  what  they 
would  consider  extreme  necessity  or  provocation.  A  President 
would  commit  a  great  wrong  and  be  unfit  for  his  high  office 
who  attempted  to  control,  or  make  sure  of  beforehand,  the 
opinion  on  any  case  of  a  judge  whom  he  contemplates  appoint- 


THE  JUDICIARY  335 

ing  to  the  bench.  James  I  under  the  Stuart  tyranny  was 
attempting  to  do  this  when  he  asked  Coke,  the  great  jurist, 
how  he  would  decide  a  particular  case  if  it  came  before  him. 
Coke  replied  to  the  King,  "I  would  decide  as  become th  a. 
judge."  That  is  the  true  type  of  a  noble  and  independent 
judge.  Yet  there  is  suspicion,  and  it  has  been  charged  among 
radical  democratic  parties  in  America,  especially  among  the 
Socialists,  that  the  Presidents  in  their  judicial  appointments 
are  careful  to  safeguard  property  rights  against  popular  or 
socialist  movements  in  this  way.  If  the  independence  of  the 
court  were  to  be  thus  submerged,  its  usefulness  would  be  de- 
stroyed, or  it  would  cease  to  be  what  it  is.  Americans  respect 
their  highest  legal  tribunal  and  they  are  unwilling  to  sacrifice 
its  judicial  independence.  At  the  same  time  they  will  resist, 
as  they  always  have  done,  any  interference  by  the  courts  in 
determining  the  political  or  public  policies  of  the  nation  or  of 
the  States. 

Although  the  practice  of  declaring  acts  of  the  legislature 
unconstitutional  is  described  by  lawyers  as  merely  revealing 
the  law,  —  i.e.  telling  what  it  is  —  and  not  making  the  law, 
yet  the  practice  makes  possible  a  good  deal  of  "court-made  1'^"^'™*^® 
law,"  —  that  is,  law  which  is  made,  or  prevented,  by  decisions 
or  constructions  contrary  to  the  legislative  desire  and  inten- 
tion. The  fact  that  certain  laws  designed  to  protect  labor  and 
laws  designed  to  tax  wealth  have  been  overthrown  by  the  courts 
have  led  to  the  observation  that  the  American  system  of  the 
supremacy  of  the  courts  is  less  democratic  than  the  English 
system  of  the  supremacy  of  the  legislature,  and  that  written 
constitutions  instead  of  being  safeguards  for  the  common  people 
may  be  safeguards  to  property  and  vested  interests.  It  is 
because  of  the  bearing  of  judicial  decisions  on  the  political  and 
social  demands  of  large  bodies  of  people  that  the  courts  and 
their  powers  have  come  so  largely  into  public  controversy  in 
recent  years. 


Law' 


336  THE   CITIZEN   AND  THE   REPUBLIC 

TOPICS  AND    QUERIES 

1.  Are  Congress  and  the  President  subject  to  the  Supreme  Court's 

interpretation  of  the  Constitution?  May  each  department 
(executive,  legislative,  judicial)  interpret  the  Constitution  for 
itself? 

2.  Debate:    Resolved,    that    legislative    supremacy,    as    in    England, 

is  better  than  judicial  supremacy,  as  in  America. 

3.  A  State  cannot  be  compelled  to  pay  its  bonds  held  by  individuals. 

By  what  law  is  this  true?  If  foreign  citizens  held  these  bonds, 
how  might  the  United  States  be  involved  in  trouble  with  foreign 
countries? 

4.  The  Constitution  has  grown  more  by  construction  than  by  amend- 

ment.    Prove  this. 

5.  Debate:    Resolved,  that  the  "gateway  amendment"  ought  to  be 

inserted  in  the  Constitution. 

REFERENCES 

Ashley,  R.  L.      The  American  Federal  State,  Chap.  XVI. 

Baldwin,  S.  E.      The  American  Judiciary. 

Corwin,  E.  S.      The  Doctrine  of  Judicial  Review. 

Haines,  Charles  G.      The  American  Doctrine  of  Judicial  Supremacy. 

Jenks,  J.  W.     Principles  of  Politics,  Chap.  VIII. 

McLaughlin,  A.  C.      The  Courts,  the  Constitution  and  Parlies,  Lecture  I. 

Smith,  J.  Allen.      The  Spirit  of  American  Government. 

Willoughby,  W.  W.      The  Supreme  Court  of  the   United  States. 

Young,  James  T.      The    New  American  Government,  Chap.  XV. 

Use  also  the  volumes  cited  in  previous  chapters. 


CHAPTER  XVIII 
MONEY  AND   TAXES 

When  we  speak  of  money  we  naturally  think  of  gold,  silver,  ^°^^y 
or  paper.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  however,  almost  any  com- 
modity could  be  used  as  money  and  a  great  many  have  been 
so  used.  The  Romans  used  cattle  as  money;  the  Virginia 
colonists  used  tobacco  in  the  same  way,  and  the  American 
Indians  used  wampum.  Other  commodities,  such  as  grain, 
tea,  ivory,  olive  oil,  furs,  shells,  and  salt  have  been  used  as 
money  by  different  peoples  at  different  times.  Any  commodity 
which  has  the  property  of  exchangeabihty,  that  is,  one  that  is 
generally  desired  and  sought  after,  may  be  used  as  money. 

It  must  be  plain,  however,  that  some  commodities  are  more  '^^^  Metals 
desirable  than  others  for  use  as  money.  Grain  and  salt  were 
found  to  be  too  heavy  and  bulky  to  carry  around  and  it  was 
not  easy  to  make  small  change  in  cattle.  As  a  result  of  a  sort 
of  "survival  of  the  fittest"  the  various  metals,  and  especially 
the  precious  metals,  are  now  universally  recognized  by  civi- 
lized nations  as  the  best  money  material.  They  are  durable, 
homogeneous  in  quality,  easily  recognizable,  and  possess, 
relatively  speaking,  considerable  stability  of  value.  They  may 
also  be  easily  divided  into  units  of  any  desired  form  or  weight. 

When  gold  and  silver  were  first  used  as  money  they  passed  Coinage 
from  the  buyer  to  the  seller  in  the  form  of  dust,  nuggets,  or 
bars,  and  the  trader  of  the  olden  time  usually  carried  a  scale 
or  a  pair  of  balances  attached  to  his  saddle  to  be  used  in 
money  transactions.  This  was  also  found  to  be  a  clumsy 
and  time-consuming  performance  and  in  the  course  of  time 
coins  appeared.     The  bar  of  metal  was  molded  into  a  certain 

337 


338 


THE   CITIZEN   AND  THE   REPUBLIC 


Other 
Functions 
of  Money 


I>rice  and 
Value:  how 
Money  varies 
in  Value 


fixed  form  and  stamped  in  such  a  way  as  to  indicate  its  weight 
a.nd  fineness.  This  is  now  usually  done  by  the  various  govern- 
ments. When  the  United  States  Government  stamps  upon 
the  face  of  a  disk  of  gold  these  words,  "united  states  of 
AMERICA  ONE  DOLLAR,"  it  savs  in  effect:   "this  is  to  certify 

THAT  THIS  COIN  ViTEIGHS   25.8  GRAINS  AND  NINE-TENTHS  OF   IT 

IS  PURE  GOLD."  The  gold  has  been  tested  and  weighed  in  the 
mint  and  the  Government  in  making  the  coin  certifies  to  its 
weight  and  fineness.  But  the  Government  also  stipulates  by 
law  that  this  coin  shall  perform  the  function  of  legal  tender 
money;  that  is,  creditors  are  bound  to  take  it  in  payment  of 
debts. 

Money  Standards 

Reference  has  already  been  made  to  the  three  functions  or 
uses  of  money.  The  way  in  which  money  serves  as  a  medium 
of  exchange  has  been  made  plain.  But  it  is  also  said  that 
money  serves  as  a  "standard  of  value."  It  is  evident  that 
when  a  bushel  of  wheat  is  sold  for  $1.50,  money  is  the  standard 
which  measures  the  value  of  the  wheat.  Money  thus  serves 
as  a  medium  of  exchange  and  as  a  standard  of  value  at  the 
same  time.  It  really  might  be  more  accurate  to  call  these 
two  different  phases  of  the  same  function  rather  than  two 
different  functions.  Again,  immediate  payment  for  services 
or  commodities  is  not  always  made.  The  payment  is  some- 
times deferred  for  a  period  of  time.  In  renting  property  or  in 
agreeing  to  pay  the  interest  and  principal  of  a  note  we  are 
entering  into  contracts  to  pay  debts  in  the  future.  In  such 
cases  money  serves  as  the  measure  or  the  standard  of  the 
payments  thus  deferred. 

Price  is  the  amount  of  money  which  a  commodity  will  bring. 
Value  is  the  relation,  in  exchange,  between  different  com- 
modities, money  included.  Money  varies  in  value  as  well  as 
other  things.  Its  value,  like  that  of  everything  else,  depends 
on  its  supply  and  demand.     If  there  is  much  money  in  circu- 


MONEY  AND  TAXES  339 

lation  (inflation)  money  is  cheap;  that  is,  prices  are  high. 
You  can  buy  more  money  with  the  same  amount  of  produce, 
or  less  produce  with  the  same  amount  of  money.  If  money 
is  scarce  (contraction)  it  becomes  dear;  that  is,  prices  are  low; 
you  have  to  give  up  more  products  (wheat,  corn,  hogs,  cattle, 
etc.)  to  get  the  same  amount  of  money.  Value  is  not  intrinsic, 
but  is  a  relation,  or  ratio,  between  things  that  are  exchanged. 
Gold  money  has  a  commodity  value  (as  paper  money  has  not), 
because  if  it  were  beaten  up  into  bullion  it  could  be  sold  as  a 
commodity.  The  price  of  gold  is  fixed  by  law,  because  the 
Government  agrees  by  law  to  give  (or  coin)  a  dollar  for  so  much 
gold.  But  the  value  of  gold  money,  as  of  all  money,  varies 
with  the  supply  and  demand.  If  gold  production  should 
double  (other  things  remaining  the  same)  the  value  of  the  gold 
dollar  would  fall;  that  is,  prices  would  rise.  The  sa  me  number 
of  gold  dollars  would  pay  the  same  amount  of  debts  (deferred 
payments)  but  they  would  not  buy  the  same  amount  of  prod- 
ucts. This  indicates  the  quantitative  theory  of  money,  —  that 
prices,  and  the  amount  of  wealth  that  has  to  be  surrendered 
to  pay  debts,  depend  on  the  quantity  of  money.  It  is  for  this 
reason  that  the  money  question  has  been  one  of  a  conflict 
of  interests  between  debtors  and  creditors,  and  between  pro- 
ducers and  those  who  live  on  fixed  incomes,  from  rents,  salaries, 
and  interest  on  money.  One  class  favors  inflation  or  an 
increase  of  money,  while  the  other  class  opposes  that  policy. 
Honest  money  should  represent  the  same  amount  of  wealth 
(labor  or  products)  at  all  times,  but  that  is  difiicult,  if  not 
impossible,  to  attain. 

There  are  eleven  different  kinds  of  money  in  circulation  in  Kinds  of 
the  United  States  at  the  present  time,  namely,  gold  coins, 
standard  silver  dollars,  subsidiary  silver  and  minor  coins 
(nickel  and  copper),  gold  certificates,  silver  certificates, 
treasury  notes  (issued  under  Act  of  July  14,  1890),  United 
States  notes  (greenbacks),  national  bank  notes,  and  Federal 
reserve  notes. 


340  THE  CITIZEN  AND  THE   REPUBLIC 

While  these  various  kinds  of  money  circulate  in  daily 
business,  side  by  side,  they  are  not  all  on  the  same  legal  basis. 
Some  are  "  legal  tender  "  and  others  are  not.  By  a  legal  tender 
is  meant  any  kind  of  money  which  may  be  legally  tendered  or 
offered  in  the  payment  of  debt  where  no  contract  has  been 
made  to  pay  the  debt  in  any  particular  kind  of  money. 

The  legal  tender  quality  of  the  various  kinds  of  money  may 
be  set  forth  as  follows: 

Gold  coins  of  all  denominations  are  legal  tender  for  all  debts, 
public  and  private. 

Standard  silver  dollars  are  legal  tender  without  limit  in 
payment  of  all  debts,  public  and  private,  except  where  other- 
wise expressly  stipulated  in  the  contract. 

Subsidiary  silver  coins  are  legal  tender  for  amounts  not  ex- 
ceeding ten  dollars  in  any  one  payment. 

Treasury  notes  of  1890  are  legal  tender  for  all  debts,  public 
and  private,  except  where  otherwise  expressly  stipulated  in  the 
contract. 

United  States  notes  (greenbacks)  are  legal  tender  for  all 
debts,  public  and  private,  except  duties  on  imports  and 
interest  on  the  public  debt.  Since  the  resumption  of  specie 
payment  on  January  i,  1879,  however.  United  States  notes 
have  been  freely  received  in  payment  of  duties  on  imports, 
but  the  law  has  remained  unchanged. 

Gold  and  silver  certificates  are  not  legal  tender.  On  the  face 
of  a  silver  certificate  you  will  find  this  statement:     "This 

CERTIFIES  THAT  THERE  HAVE  BEEN  DEPOSITED  IN  THE  TREASURY 

OF    THE    UNITED    STATES     OF     AMERICA SILVER     DOLLARS 

PAYABLE   TO   THE   BEARER   ON   DEMAND."      This   mcaUS   exactly 

what  it  says,  and  the  silver  dollars  may  be  obtained  by  the 
bearer  at  any  time  in  exchange  for  his  certificate.  The  certifi- 
cates are  issued  as  a  matter  of  convenience  only.  It  is  more 
convenient  to  carry  a  considerable  sum  of  money  in  the  form 
of  paper  than  in  the  form  of  coin. 
The  principle  of  the  gold  certificate  is  the  same  as  that  of  the 


MONEY  AND  TAXES  34 1 

silver  certificate  and  neither  one  is  legal  tender.  Both,  how- 
ever, are  receivable  for  "customs,  taxes,  and  all  public  dues," 
and  as  a  matter  of  fact  are  freely  received  every  day  in  the 
actual  transaction  of  business. 

National  bank  notes  are  legal  tender  for  all  public  dues, 
except  duties  on  imports,  and  the  Government  may  pay  them 
out  for  all  salaries  or  debts  due  to  individuals,  corporations, 
and  associations  within  the  United  States,  except  for  interest 
on  the  public  debt  and  in  redemption  of  the  national  currency. 
All  national  banks  are  required  by  law  to  accept  the  notes  of 
other  national  banks  at  par. 

Federal  Reserve  notes  are  not  legal  tender  and  do  not  differ 
materially  from  national  bank  notes. 

The  minor  coins  made  of  nickel  and  copper  are  legal  tender 
to  the  amount  of  25  cents. 

This  legal  tender  quality  is  not  as  important  as  it  might 
appear  at  first  thought  and  certainly  not  as  important  as  it 
once  was.  This  is  due  to  the  fact  that  it  is  the  definite  and 
expressed  policy  of  our  Government  to  maintain  the  various 
kinds  of  money  on  an  equality  or  a  parity  of  value.  At  the 
present  time  there  is  no  difference  in  the  purchasing  power 
of  the  different  kinds  of  money.  The  paper  dollar,  the  silver 
dollar,  and  the  gold  dollar  are  on  an  equality  and  are  exchange- 
able the  one  for  the  other.  An  Act  of  Congress  passed  in  1900 
declares  that  the  gold  dollar  weighing  25.8  grains,  nine- tenths 
fine,  "shall  be  the  standard  unit  of  value,"  and  also 
that  it  shall  be  the  duty  of  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury 
"to  maintain  at  a  parity  of  value  with  this  standard  all  forms 
of  money  issued  or  coined  by  the  United  States."  The  sig- 
nificant thing  to  be  remembered  is  that  you  can  exchange  a 
given  quantity  in  any  one  kind  of  money  for  a  corresponding 
quantity  of  gold.  The  parity  and  interchangeability  of  the 
various  kinds  of  money  are  very  important  considerations  in 
our  monetary  system  and  were  brought  about  through  congres- 
sional legislation. 


342 


THE  CITIZEN   AND  THE   REPUBLIC 


Coin  and 
Bullion  Value 


Importance  of 
the  Monetary 
System 


It  should  be  remembered  throughout  that  gold  is  the  stand- 
ard of  value  in  the  United  States  as  it  is  in  the  other  leading 
countries  of  the  world.  If  a  gold  coin  were  melted  down  into 
bullion  that  would  not  affect  its  price.  In  other  words  the 
coin  price  and  the  bullion  price  of  gold  are  the  same.  This 
price  is  fixed  by  law,  since  the  Government  coins  all  gold  at  a 
certain  rate.^  But  the  bullion  price  of  a  silver  dollar,  for 
example,  at  the  present  time  is  not  as  much  as  the  coin  price, 
since  the  Government  no  longer  turns  silver  bullion  into  coin 
except  to  a  very  limited  extent  for  subsidiary  coins.  We  no 
longer  have  "free  coinage  of  silver"  as  we  have  of  gold.  For- 
merly, the  Government  coined  all  the  gold  and  silver  bullion 
that  was  offered  at  the  rate  of  "sixteen  to  one."  That  is, 
the  silver  in  a  silver  dollar  should  weigh  sixteen  times  as  much 
as  the  gold  in  a  gold  dollar;  or  sixteen  gold  dollars  could  be 
made  to  every  silver  dollar  out  of  the  same  weight  of  the  two 
metals.  The  silver  dollar  is  placed  on  a  parity  with  the  gold 
dollar  by  legislation.  A  person  may  bring  any  amount  of 
gold  which  he  happens  to  possess  to  a  United  States  mint  and 
have  it  converted  into  gold  coins.  There  is  no  limit  to  this 
process.  The  same,  however,  is  not  true  of  the  other  monetary 
metals.  The  Government  buys  silver,  nickel,  and  copper  from 
time  to  time  and  coins  them  into  money.  In  doing  this,  of 
course,  it  makes  a  large  profit.  To  put  a  Government  stamp 
upon  fifty  cents'  worth  of  silver,  for  example,  and  make  a 
dollar  out  of  it  would  be  a  very  profitable  operation,  if  the 
Government  should  pay  its  debts  out  of  the  money  so  coined. 
It  is  estimated  that  the  Government  of  the  United  States  made 
a  profit  of  $143,000,000  in  coining  silver  between  the  years 
1878  and  1907. 

We  have  been  able  to  give  in  this  chapter  only  a  very 
meager  outline  of  the  monetary  system  of  the  United  States. 
It  would  be  both  interesting  and  profitable  to  study  the  va- 
rious steps  in  the  historical  development  of  the  system  and  to 
1  See  the  topic  "Price  and  Value,"  p.  338. 


MONEY  AND  TAXES 


343 


note  the  changes  which  have  been  made  from  time  to  time  in 
order  to  adapt  the  system  to  changing  conditions.  It  is  im- 
portant that  every  American  citizen  should  understand  the 
general  principles  of  'money  and  be  familiar  with  the  main 
features  of  the  American  monetary  system.  We  are  called 
upon  to  modify  the  mechanism  of  this  system  from  time  to 
time  and  should  be  able  to  do  so  intelligently. 

The  importance  of  a  good  monetary  system  to  the  business 
world  is  incalculable.  As  long  as  the  system  works  well  we 
do  not  hear  much  about  it,  but  as  soon  as  it  gets  out  of  order 
or  fails  to  meet  the  demands  of  the  business  world  we  become 
suddenly  aware  of  its  importance. 

Additional  information  on  this  subject  may  be  obtained  from 
the  references  mentioned  in  the  list. 


The  National  Banking  System 
A  new  banking  and  currency  measure  known  as  the  "  Federal   The  Federal 

J^gg0|-yg    Act 

Reserve  Act"  became  a  law  December  2^,  iqi;^.     Under  it 


23>  1913 

certain  cities  have  been  chosen  for  the  location  of  Federal 
Reserve  Banks. ^  The  banks  within  convenient  distance  of 
these  cities  become  members  (stockholders)  of  their  respective 
"Regional  Banks."  Each  of  these  Regional  Banks  is  a  kind 
of  federation  of  banks.  Branch  offices  may  be  established 
within  the  district.  The  Regional  Reserve  Banks  do  a  bank- 
ing business  only  with  the  member  banks,  not  with  individuals. 
But  these  Regional  Banks  may  issue  bank  notes  to  be  used 
as  currency.  The  Federal  Reserve  Board  (the  national  con- 
trolling body)  may  authorize  the  issue  of  these  notes  when 
it  is  thought  best,  and  the  notes  are  sent  to  the  member 
banks  throughout  the  country  to  be  issued,  or  lent  to  their 
customers  across  the  counter.  These  notes  are  obligations 
of  the  United  States  and  are  receivable  by  all  the  banks  and 
for  all  taxes,  customs,  and  other  public  dues,  and  they  are 

1  These   cities  are   Boston,   New   York,    Richmond   (Va.),   Atlanta, 
Chicago,  Dallas  (Tex.),  St.  Louis,  Kansas  City,  Seattle,  San  Francisco. 


Preventing 
Money  Panics 


344 


THE  CITIZEN   AND  THE   REPUBLIC 


An  Elastic 
Currency  and 
Panics 


redeemable  in  gold  on  demand  at  the  treasury  of  the  United 
States  or  at  any  Federal  Regional  Reserve  Bank.  This 
makes  them  sound  currency.  The  usual  bank  notes  are 
based  on  Government  bonds  which  th^  bank  owns,  and  not 
on  all  the  assets  of  the  bank,  such  as  promissory  notes  given 
to  the  bank  by  merchants,  manufacturers,  farmers,  etc. 
These  bank  notes  were  increased  or  diminished  according 
as  the  interests  of  the  banks  demanded,  depending  on 
whether  the  banks  wished  to  buy  or  sell  Government  bonds. 
Often  it  was  not  to  the  interest  of  the  banks  to  issue  notes, 
as  that  would  necessitate  tying  up  a  good  deal  of  money  in 
Government  bonds  bearing  a  low  rate  of  interest. 

The  consequence  was  the  currency  was  rather  rigid,  neither 
expanding  nor  contracting  with  the  demands  of  trade.  The 
new  system  is  designed  to  correct  this  evil  and  to  give  us  an 
elastic  currency,  —  a  currency  that  will  stretch  out  or  draw 
in  as  business  needs  require,  giving  the  country  more  currency 
at  one  time  and  less  at  others  in  answer  to  commercial  demands. 
The  Federal  Reserve  notes  help  to  provide  this  "emergency 
currency."  It  is  furnished  by  a  Government  agency,  and  the 
notes  will  enable  the  country  to  avoid  panics.  A  money 
panic  comes  from  lack  of  credit  and  loss  of  confidence,  or  when 
the  demand  for  money  overwhelms  the  supply.  Then  people 
are  seized  with  a  fear  that  the  money  they  have  loaned,  or 
deposited  in  the  bank,  cannot  be  had  when  it  is  wanted.  A 
"run  on  the  bank"  is  started,  people  draw  out  their  deposits, 
and  hide  their  money  away.  The  banks  cannot  make  loans 
and  have  to  call  in  the  loans  they  have  made,  and  the  result 
is  that  people  who  have  to  meet  their  obligations  and  pay  their 
debts  in  money  have  to  suffer  legal  foreclosures  of  mortgages 
and  property  sales  under  the  hammer,  and  this  compels  them 
to  sacrifice  their  property  at  half  its  value,  or  less.  The  result 
is  loss  and  ruin  to  thousands  of  honest  people  who  could  have 
paid  their  debts  without  loss  of  their  property  and  business  if 
time  (a  loan  or  credit)  had  been  allowed  to  them.     An  emer- 


o 
> 

^  -1  IT?        Q 

cs  P  2    i^ 
o  ~-  cr 


fn 


o 

n 


Custom  House  Officers  Examining  Baggage  at  a   Steamship  Pier 


Government  Inspection   of   Groceries   at   Custom   House,   N.    Y. 

All   liquids,  are   measured   to   see   if   they   are  the  weight  specified.    Canned 
goods  are  weighed  and  examined  by  the  Pure  Food  Department. 


MONEY  AND  TAXES 


345 


gency  currency  is  devised  to  keep  the  wheels  of  industry  in 
motion  to  enable  men  who  can  give  good  security  to  get  an 
extension  of  time  or  credit  and  not  be  compelled  to  close  up 
their  business  or  sell  their  property  in  order  to  pay  their 
debts.  Borrowers  who  have  lands,  houses,  horses,  cattle, 
hogs,  mills,  stores,  factories,  quarries,  and  other  forms  of 
wealth  should  be  able  to  borrow  money,  and  it  must  be  shown 
to  be  unprofitable  and  senseless  to  hoard  money  and  keep  it 
out  of  use.  Money  makes  money,  but  not  when  it  is  idle 
or  hidden  away. 

If  there  is  any  business  in  the  world  which  Government 
should  attend  to  it  is  to  coin  money  and  to  see  to  it  that  there 
is  a  sufficient  supply  of  money  for  use  in  business  and  that  this 
money  may  be  had  on  good  and  proper  securities  when  and 
where  it  is  needed.  What  blood  is  to  the  arteries  money  is 
to  the  channels  of  trade.  Stop  its  flow  and  that  is  the  end. 
Coining  money,  or  issuing  notes  to  be  used  as  money,  is  a 
Government  function,  not  a  banking  function,  and  it  is  to  be 
regulated  by  public  needs,  not  by  private  interests.  It  is 
claimed  for  the  Federal  Reserve  System  that  it  will  supply 
the  emergency  currency,  and  by  distributing  its  notes  through 
the  Regional  Banks,  it  will  have  them  in  sufficient  quantities 
where  they  are  most  needed.  This  will  prevent  a  combination 
of  banking  interests  in  great  financial  centers  from  controlling 
the  supply  of  currency  and  will  increase  the  lending  power  of  the 
local  banks.  It  means  the  public  control  of  banks  and  bank 
money  as  against  private  control.  It  should  be  remembered 
that  banking  is  not  entirely  private  business  but  a  semi- 
public  business.  The  Government  charters  a  bank  and  re- 
quires it  to  do  certain  things  and  there  are  Government  bank 
examiners  who  inspect  the  banks,  to  see  that  they  obey  the 
law  and  are  by  sound  banking  policies  honestly  safeguarding 
the  money  deposited  with  them. 


Issuing  Notes 
for  Money  is 
a  Government 
Function 


Public  Control 
of  Banks 


346  THE  CITIZEN   AND  THE   REPUBLIC 

The  Public  Revenues 

No  Government  can  be  carried  on  successfully  without  an 
adequate  revenue.  It  must  have  money  to  pay  its  expenses. 
Most  of  this  money  is  derived  from  taxation.  "  In  this  country 
more  than  70  per  cent  of  all  public  revenues  are  obtained  from 
taxes,  so  the  problems  of  taxation  are  the  most  important 
with  which  the  public  financier  has  to  deal."  ^ 

For  our  present  purpose  we  may  consider  taxes  as  "compul- 
sory contributions  collected  by  governments,  without  any 
specific  return  being  given  or  promised."  Taxes  are  expended, 
for  example,  for  the  maintenance  of  the  police  and  fire  depart- 
ments, for  the  building  of  roads  and  the  paving  of  streets, 
and  for  the  support  of  schools.  The  tax-payer  receives  no 
specific  return  on  his  investment,  but  if  his  government  be 
administered  efficiently  and  economically  he  does  get  more 
in  return  for  the  tax  which  he  pays  than  for  any  similar  amount 
which  he  expends. 
Justice  in  j{  ^j^g  Government  is  going  to  take  from  its  citizens  a  certain 

Taxation  ....  ,  ,  •     ,         , 

amount  of  money  each  year  it  is  important  that  this  be  done 
in  a  fair  and  equitable  manner.  What,  then,  constitutes  justice 
in  taxation? 

We  might  just  as  well  admit  at  the  outset  that  absolute 
justice  in  taxation  has  never  been  attained  and  probably 
never  will  be.  Approximate  justice  is  all  that  we  can  hope 
to  secure.  We  should,  however,  strive  to  bring  our  taxing 
systems  as  close  to  ideal  justice  as  it  is  practically  possible 
to  do. 

The  theory  of  justice  in  regard  to  taxation,  which  is  perhaps 
more  widely  accepted  at  the  present  time  than  any  other,  is 
that  "taxes  should  be  proportioned  to  the  benefits  derived." 
This  is  useful  as  a  general  statement,  but  it  must  be  obvious 
that  it  is  impossible  to  determine  the  benefits  which  any  given 
individual  does  derive  from  the  Government. 

'  Ely,  Outlines  of  Economics,  pages  695-6. 


MONEY  AND  TAXES  347 

Again,  it  is  said  that  taxes  should  be  apportioned  according 
to  the  ability  of  the  individual  to  pay.  But  it  must  be  evident 
that  there  is  no  way  of  measuring  this  ability.  If  A  has  twice 
as  much  property  as  B,  is  his  ability  to  pay  necessarily  twice 
that  of  B?  Absolute  justice  in  taxation  is,  at  the  present  time, 
unattainable.  "A  system  that  frankly  recognizes  this  truth 
and  makes  for  rough  justice,  by  the  imposition  of  taxes  which 
are  simple,  stable,  convenient,  inexpensive,  and  productive, 
is  far  better  than  one  which  attempts  to  secure  exact  justice 
through  complex  and  delicate  schemes  of  taxation  which 
cannot  be  definitely  or  efhciently  administered."  ^ 

Apart  from  the  billions  appropriated  for  special  purposes 
of  war,  the  growth  of  expenditures  by  the  Federal  Govern-  increased 
ment  has  been  enormous  in  recent  years.-     Not  counting  war  Expenses  of 

,  ,.  .  the  Federal 

expenses  the  National  expenditures  are  nearly  twenty  times  Government 
what  they  were  at  the  opening  of  the  Civil  War,  and  more 
than  a  hundred  times  greater  than  under  Washington's 
administration.^  This  increase  has  come  about  by  the 
natural  growth  of  Government  work  and  its  greater  services 
to  the  people.^ 

The  greater  part  of  the  National  disbursements  go  for 
postal  services  and  for  the  Departments  of  War,  Navy, 
and  Interior.  Relatively  small  parts  go  for  commerce, 
labor,  agriculture,  and  education. 

Congress  has  the  taxing  power,  —  the  power  "to  lay  and 
collect  taxes,  duties,  imposts,  and  excises,"  but  all  "such 
taxes,  duties,  and  imposts  shall  be  uniform  throughout  the 

1  Ely,  Outlines  of  Economics,  pages  697-8. 

*  In  191 7  Congress  appropriated  nearly  twenty  billion  dollars 
($20,000,000,000)  for  war  purposes.  This  amount  is  beyond  our 
understanding.  But  it  is  evident  that  in  order  to  avoid  waste  and 
extravagance,  the  amount  called  for  should  be  under  the  plan  and 
control  of  one  over-seeing  committee,  not  under  many  committees 
working  at  cross  purposes  or  without  knowledge  of  one  another's 
proceedings. 

3  State  and  City  expenditures  have  increased  correspondingly. 

*  See  pp.  78-83. 


348 


THE   CITIZEN   AND  THE   REPUBLIC 


The  Taxing 
Power  and 
Sources  of 
Revenue  of 
the  National 
Government 


United  States."  ^  This  taxing  power  extends  to  all  persons 
and  property  within  the  United  States.  The  purposes  for 
which  these  taxes  may  be  levied  are  "to  pay  the  debts,  pro- 
vide for  the  common  defense  and  general  welfare"  of  the 
United  States. 

There    are    certain   limitations    on    this    taxing   power    of 
Congress: 

(i)  No  tax  or  duty  may  be  levied  on  exports  from  any 
State. 

(2)  Congress  may  not  tax  any  instrument  or  agency  by 

which  a  State  Government  performs  its  functions 
or  carries  on  its  business.^  "The  power  to  tax 
involves  the  power  to  destroy."  ^  The  National 
Government  has  imposed  a  tax  of  ten  per  cent  on 
all  notes  issued  for  circulation  as  money  by  State 
Banks.  This  destroys,  or  prohibits,  the  issuing  of 
such  notes.  Issuing  bank  notes,  or  authorizing  their 
issue,  is  not  regarded  as  a  necessary  function  of  a 
State  Government.  Congress  has  the  power  under 
the  Constitution  "to  coin  money  and  to  regulate 
the  value  thereof"  and  to  secure  "a  uniform  cur- 
rency," and  it  does  not  wish  the  country  to  have 
many  kinds  of  State  bank  currency.  So  it  prohibits 
their  issue  by  the  taxing  power. 

(3)  Direct  taxes  must  be  apportioned  among  the  several 

States  according  to  their  population.  In  1895  the 
Supreme  Court  declared  the  income  tax  to  be  a  direct 
tax,  and  the  act  of  1894  imposing  such  a  tax  was 
declared  null  and  void  because,  since  incomes  up  to 
$4000  were  exempted,  the  tax  was  not  distributed 


^  Constitution,  Art.  I,  Sec.  8. 

2  Likewise,  the  State  Government  may  not  tax  any  instrument  or 
agency   by   which   the   National    Government   performs   its   functions. 

^  Chief  Justice  Marshall  in  the  case  of  McCulloch  vs.  Maryland  in 
1819. 


MONEY  AND  TAXES  349 

according  to  population.  More  people  in  New- 
York  or  Massachusetts,  in  proportion  to  population, 
would  have  the  larger  incomes  than  in  Arkansas 
or  Oklahoma. 

The  three  principal  sources  of  revenue  to  the  General 
Government  are  (i)  customs  duties,  (2)  internal  revenue 
and  (3)  postal  receipts.  The  expenses  of  the  postal  service  1°"^^^^^- 
are  usually  more  than  the  receipts  and  the  postal  revenues 
may  be  regarded  more  as  a  payment  for  a  direct  service  than 
as  a  tax.  Apart  from  this  service  fully  nine  tenths  of  the 
National  revenues  come  from  customs  duties  and  internal 
taxes. 

Customs  duties  are  duties  on  imports,  or  taxes  collected  on 
articles  brought  into  the  United  States  from  foreign  countries. 
Only  the  National  Government  has  a  right  to  impose  this 
form  of  tax;  no  State  may  do  so.  Import  duties  are  an 
indirect  tax;  they  are  inexpensive  and  easy  to  collect.  The 
importer,  or  merchant,  usually  shifts  the  tax  burden  to  the 
consumer,  who  pays  in  the  form  of  a  higher  price  for  the 
imported  articles.  These  taxes  do  not  fall  upon  people  in 
proportion  to  their  wealth  but  in  proportion  to  the  amount 
they  buy  or  consume  of  the  imported  goods.  If  the  Govern- 
ment collects  fifty  or  sixty  millions  of  dollars  of  import  duty 
on  sugar,  it  is  evident  that  a  family  with  a  10,000-dollar 
income  would  not  pay  ten  times  as  much  of  the  tax  as  a  family 
with  a  I  coo-dollar  income. 

The  customs  duty,  or  tariff,  is  sometimes  levied  on  the 
bulk  or  number  of  the  imported  commodities.  It  is  then 
called  a  specific  duty.  If  levied  on  the  value  of  the  articles 
it  is  called  an  ad  valorem  duty.  Sometimes  these  two  kinds 
of  duties  are  combined.  We  have  used  the  customs  duties 
as  a  source  of  national  revenue  ever  since  the  foundation  of 
the  Government  in  1789.  There  has  been  a  controversy 
almost  from  the  beginning  over  the  extent  and  purpose  of 


350  THE   CITIZEN   AND  THE   REPUBLIC 

these  tariff  duties,  whether  they  should  be  levied  "for  revenue 
only"  or  with  a  view  to  protecting  home  manufactures.  It  is 
the  controversy  between  the  protectionist  and  the  free  trader. 

Internal  taxes  have  usually  been  excise  taxes,  that  is,  taxes 
levied  upon  consumption,  manufacture,  or  sale  of  goods 
within  the  country.  The  consumer  usually  pays  this  tax 
also,  since  he  must  pay  a  higher  price  for  the  articles  which 
he  buys.  This  form  of  tax  in  ordinary  times  is  usually  laid 
only  on  liquors  and  tobacco  and  other  commodities  whose 
use  it  is  desired  to  discourage.  But  in  war  times,  when  the 
Government  must  have  greatly  increased  revenues  as  in  the 
Civil  War  and  in  the  Great  War  of  191 7,  the  internal  revenue 
taxes  are  extended  to  numberless  commodities  and  com- 
mercial operations,  —  insurance  policies,  promissory  notes, 
bank  checks,  railway  tickets,  express  and  freight  rates,  theater 
tickets,  and  stamp  taxes  of  various  kinds. 

The  Government  gets  the  money  it  needs  for  carrying  on 
war  in  two  ways:  By  increased  taxation  and  by  borrowing, 
i.e.  issuing  its  bonds  v/hich  the  people  buy.  No  war  can  be 
paid  for  as  it  goes  on  merely  by  increased  taxes,  but  taxes 
and  bonds  should  be  fairly  proportioned  so  that  the  people 
while  being  made  to  feel  the  burden  of  the  war  may  extend 
the  time  of  payment  over  a  period  of  years  and  not  be  over- 
burdened by  taxes  that  would  tend  to  check  productive  en- 
terprise and  business.  "Viewed  as  a  whole,  the  internal 
revenue  system  is  the  most  satisfactory  part  of  our  entire 
financial  structure.  State  or  Federal.  Its  returns  are  fairly 
steady  and  reliable  in  times  of  depression.  Its  growth  is 
automatic.  It  is  imposed  on  articles  the  demand  for  which 
is  tolerably  inelastic.  Its  burden  is  not  perceptibly  felt. 
It  is  honestly  and  economically  collected;  and,  finally,  it 
is  abundantly  capable  of  yielding  additional  revenue  should 
an  unforeseen  emergency  arise."  ^ 

When  a  Government  wishes  to  borrow  money  it  offers  its 
1  Daniels,  Public  Finance,  p.  148. 


MONEY  AND  TAXES  35 1 

bonds  and  its  certificates  of  indebtedness.     The  bonds  run 

for  a  longer  time,  for  20  or  30  years,  the  certificates  for  a  Bond  issues 

shorter  time,  for  from  two  to  five  years,  till  such  time  as  the  certificates  of 

Government  thinks  it  may  be  able  to  borrow  at  a  lower  rate  indebtedness 

of  interest.     During  the   Civil  War   the   United   States  had 

to  borrow,  and  because  the  fate  of  the  Government  and  the 

outcome  of  the  war  were  uncertain  the  Government  had  to 

pay  6  or  7  per  cent  interest  on  its  bonds  (which  were  also 

free  from  taxation).     The  credit  of  the  Government  was  not 

so  good  as  it  was  after  the  success  of  the  war. 

After  the  United  States  entered  the  European  War  issues   i-i^erty  Bonds 

and  Thrift 

of  "Liberty  Bonds"  were  offered  to  the  citizens  of  the  country,   stamps 
the  first  three  at  3I,  4,  and  4^  per  cent   interest.     That  is, 
the  people  were  asked  to  lend  money  to  their  Government 
for  the  purpose  of  carrying  on  the  war  —  for  raising,  equip- 
ping, clothing  and  feeding  an  army  and  supplying  the  navy,  etc. 

In  1 918  the  Government  issued  War  Savings  Stamps  and 
Thrift  Stamps,  to  encourage  thrift  and  saving  among  the 
people  and  to  enable  men,  women,  and  children  of  small 
means  to  lend  money  to  the  Government,  with  the  assurance 
that  it  will  be  kept  safely  and  paid  back  with  interest.  The 
Thrift  Stamps  afford  one  of  the  simplest  forms  of  saving  ever 
offered  to  a  people.  By  this  plan  the  obligation  of  the 
Government  is  sold  in  the  form  of  stamps  which  are  to  be 
attached  to  a  certificate.  The  War  Savings  Stamps  are  five- 
dollar  stamps. 

The  income  tax  at  the  present  time  is  another  important   The  income 

Tax 

source  of  national  revenue.  In  a  national  sense  this  is  a  com- 
paratively new  tax.  Foreign  countries,  notably  Great  Britain, 
have  taxed  incomes  for  many  years,  and  certain  American 
states  used  this  form  of  taxation  one  hundred  years  ago. 
In  1895,  however,  the  United  States  Supreme  Court  declared 
a  national  income  tax  law  to  be  unconstitutional,  and  the  in- 
come tax  was  made  possible  as  a  source  of  national  revenue  by 
the  adoption  of  the  Sixteenth  Amendment  to  the  Constitution 


352 


THE  CITIZEN  AND  THE   REPUBLIC 


Other  Sources 
of  Revenue 


State  and  Local 
Taxes 


in  1913.  This  law  provided  for  a  tax  at  a  low  rate  on  all  in- 
comes in  excess  of  $4000,  with  a  progressively  higher  rate  for 
larger  incomes.  In  1916  this  tax  produced  more  than  $100,- 
000,000.  In  191 7  the  war  income  tax  was  increased  and  the 
exemptions  were  lowered.  Unmarried  men  or  women  hav- 
ing an  income  of  $1000  or  more  and  married  persons  with  an 
income  of  $2000  or  more  were  made  subject  to  the  tax  and 
there  was  assessed  a  graduated  increase  in  the  rate  of  tax  as  the 
incomes  increased.  In  a  general  way  it  may  be  said  that 
the  income  tax  is  a  very  just  one.  It  represents  fairly  well 
the  ability  to  pay  and  it  is  also  easier  to  determine  a  man's 
income  than  to  ascertain  the  value  of  his  property.  On  the 
whole,  the  income  tax  is  more  equitable  than  the  general 
property  tax. 

In  addition  to  these  major  sources  of  revenue  the  national 
Government  secured  in  191 7  $179,000,000  from  a  tax  on  cor- 
porations, and  $6,000,000  from  the  sale  of  public  lands 
and  from  certain  other  miscellaneous  sources.  The  earnings 
of  the  post  office  were  $329,000,000  in  191 7,  but  the  expense 
was  somewhat  less  than  that  sum.  The  total  Federal 
receipts  in  1915  were  $1,007,000,000.  The  receipts  and  the 
expenditures  of  the  national  Government  have  increased  very 
rapidly  in  recent  years. 

In  addition  to  Federal  or  national  taxes  we  must  also  have 
taxes  to  pay  the  expenses  of  our  State  and  local  governments. 
The  general  property  tax  is  the  source  of  most  of  the  revenue 
of  the  States  and  local  units.  This  tax  is  levied  upon  practi- 
cally all  property,  real  and  personal,  in  the  possession  of  the 
people.  There  are  certain  exemptions  which  are  unimportant 
and  may  be  disregarded.  At  one  time  this  general  property 
tax  was  a  fairly  equitable  one,  but  it  is  not  so  under  present 
conditions.  Assessors,  as  a  rule,  are  not  trained  for  their 
work,  large  amounts  of  personal  property  owned  by  well- 
to-do  men  escape  taxation,  and  the  whole  system  is  a  constant 
temptation  to  dishonesty.     The  revision  of  the  general  prop- 


MONEY  AND  TAXES  353 

erty  tax  is  one  of  the  many  important  present  problems  of 
State  finance. 

Some  of  the  States  also  levy  a  tax  on  incomes  and  many  of 
them  levy  taxes  on  inheritances.  The  poll  tax  is  still  levied  to 
some  extent  but  is  gradually  going  out  of  use,  and  rightly  so. 

The  United  States  is  a  very  rich  country  and  has  experienced 
little  difficulty  in  raising  sufficient  money  to  carry  on  the 
various  forms  of  national,  State,  and  local  government.  Hence, 
the  whole  matter  has  been  handled  in  a  rather  slipshod  and 
unscientific  manner.  To  reduce  the  whole  matter  of  public 
finance  to  an  equitable  and  scientific  basis  will  be  one  of  the 
great  problems  of  the  future.  This  whole  subject  stands  in 
need  of  a  careful  review  and  thorough  revision.  The  intro- 
duction of  the  budget  system  in  both  State  and  nation  would 
be  a  long  step  in  the  direction  of  business-like  public  finance 
(see  p.  286). 

REFERENCES 

Ely.     Outlines  of  Economics,  pp.  33-34. 

Ely.     Outlines  of  Economics,  Third  Edition,  Chap.  XIV. 

Daniels.      Public  Finance. 

Jevons.    Money  and  the  Mechanism  of  Exchange. 

Marshall,   Wright  and   Field.     Materials  for  the  Study  of  Elementary 

Economics.'^     Sections  129-130. 
Plehn.     Government  Finance  in  the  United  States,  especially  Chap.  9. 
Seligman.     Principles  of  Economics,  Chap.  XXVIII. 
White.     Money  and  Banking. 

TOPICS   AND    QUERIES 

1.  Why  are  gold  and  silver  regarded  as  the  best  substances  for  use  as 

money?  Is  not  paper  better  than  either?  If  not,  why  is  it  so 
generally  used?  Why  not  use  paper  altogether  and  release  gold 
and  silver  for  use  in  the  arts  and  industries? 

2.  What  is  a  coin?     Is  all  coin  money?     Is  all  money  coin?     When 

Congress  issued  "greenbacks,"  was  that  coining  money?  If  not, 
how  could  it  have  been  constitutional? 

3.  Explain  "legal  tender."     What  injustice  would  be  done  in  the  en- 

forcement of  contracts  by  making  money  cheaper  or  dearer? 

4.  Show  the  error  of  using  the  term  "intrinsic  value."     What  meaning 

is  intended  by  such  a  term? 


354  THE  CITIZEN  AND  THE  REPUBLIC 

What  is  an  "honcsl  dollar"?  Is  money  the  creature  of  law  or  inde- 
pendent of  law? 

Why  should  a  rich  man  without  children  be  taxed  in  order  to  help 
educate  other  people's  children? 

Ought  a  part  of  the  income  from  public  utilities  be  taken  as  taxes 
or  public  revenues?     Why? 

How  may  licenses  and  franchises  be  used  as  sources  of  public 
revenue? 

What  is  an  "  elastic  currency  "  ?  An  "  emergency  currency  "  ?  Why 
should  these  quaUties  in  a  national  currency  be  provided  for  by 
government? 


CHAPTER  XIX 
THE  NATION  IN  ITS  FOREIGN  RELATIONS 

The  nation  has  to  deal  both  with  domestic  affairs  ^.nd  foreign 
affairs.  Its  domestic  concerns,  or  home  activities,  have  greatly- 
increased  in  recent  years,  as  we  have  seen,  although  it  is  true 
that  most  of  our  domestic  affairs  and  local  laws  are  still  at- 
tended to  by  the  States  (see  pp.  142-143).  But  the  States,  in 
the  beginning  of  the  Union,  gave  up  the  management  of  foreign 
affairs  entirely  to  the  general  Government.  No  State  may 
make  a  treaty,  or  enter  into  an  alliance,  or  receive  a  foreign 
ambassador,  or  make  war,  or  deal  in  any  way  with  a  foreign 
government.  International  dealing  is  the  exclusive  function 
of  the  national  Government.  In  its  conduct  of  foreign  affairs 
the  United  States  seeks  to  act  in  harmony  with  international 
custom  which  is  called  international  law. 

International  law  is  a  collection  of  rules  based  upon  custom, 
agreement,  or  common  consent,  which  are  accepted  as  mutually  Law 
binding  by  modern  civilized  states  in  their  dealings  and 
relations  with  one  another.  Real  law  has  force  behind  it.  It 
comes  from  statutes  or  from  decisions  of  judges  based  on 
customs,  or  precedents  and  the  common  sense  of  the  com- 
munity (common  law)  and  its  observance  is  obligatory  upon 
the  community  for  which  it  is  made.  There  is  an  enforcing 
power  for  the  protection  of  the  community  to  see  that  the  law 
is  obeyed.  International  law  has  no  such  sanction  behind  it, 
no  such  law-enforcing  power.  Strong  nations  often  disregard 
it  and  violate  their  own  agreements  to  it,  and  weak  nations 
often  appeal  to  it  in  vain.  The  first  essential  of  law  —  that  it 
is  binding  and  must  be  obeyed  —  is  absent.      Hence,  some 

355 


Character  of 
International 


356  THE  CITIZEN   AND  THE   REPUBLIC 

have  said  that  there  is  no  such  thing  as  international  law. 
It  is  only  custom,  or  what  nations  agree  to,  —  and  then  often 
disregard. 

Although  these  rules  are  only  a  set  of  usages  and  cus- 
toms, yet  nations,  as  a  rule,  recognize  them  as  law,  and,  in 
a  spirit  of  good  will  and  fair  dealing,  usually  act  upon  them 
and  observe  them.  That  is,  the  nations  will  enforce  this 
law  each  for  itself,  but  not  against  one  another.  In  Great 
Britain  and  in  the  United  States  international  law  is  regarded 
as  a  part  of  the  law  of  the  land,  and  its  established  principles, 
so  far  as  each  of  these  two  nations  accepts  them,  are  enforced 
in  the  courts.  The  Constitution  gives  Congress  power  "to 
punish  offenses  against  the  law  of  nations,"  such  as  piracy, 
or  crimes  on  the  high  seas;  laws  are  enacted  for  this  pur- 
pose, and  the  United  States  Supreme  Court  will  recognize 
the  principles  of  international  law  in  its  decisions. 

International  law  deals  with  such  topics  as  peace  and  war, 
rights  and  duties  of  belligerents  and  of  neutrals,  blockades, 
sieges,  privateering,  captures  made  at  sea,  the  law  of  the  sea, 
mediation,  intervention,  naturalization,  extradition,  protection 
of  citizens  and  aliens,  and  all  kinds  of  treaties,  arbitrations, 
and  international  conventions  and  conferences. 
Scope  and  International  law  acts  on  states  (nations)  not  on  individual 

Basis  of  ,....., 

International       citizens.     Eacli  State  controls  Its  own  citizens,  enforcing  only 
^^^  such  parts  of  this  law  as  it  chooses.     If  a  state  disregards  or 

violates  international  law  or  refuses  to  be  bound  by  it,  the 
only  way  it  can  be  punished  is  for  other  states,  or  countries, 
to  make  war  upon  the  offending  state  or  to  cease  to  have 
any  relations  with  it.  If  not  punished  by  war,  it  ought  to  be 
denounced  and  disgraced  as  an  outlaw  among  nations.^ 

1  In  this  book  the  word  State  is  used  in  two  senses.  When  spelled 
with  a  capital  it  refers  to  one  of  the  States  of  the  American  Union; 
otherwise,  it  refers  to  any  political  sovereignty  or  nation,  as  that  term 
is  used  in  America.  In  Europe  the  term  nation  signifies  a  race  of  people, 
those  speaking  a  common  language.  For  instance,  the  German  nation 
includes  all  Germans  whether  they  live  in  Germany,  Austria,  Brazil, 


THE  NATION   IN    ITS   FOREIGN   RELATIONS        357 

This  international  law  which  binds  states  rests  on  several 
forces:  (i)  the  public  opinion  of  mankind,  (2)  the  custom 
and  usage  of  countries,  (3)  the  treaties  by  which  states  have 
consented  to  be  bound,  (4)  the  executive  conduct  of  govern- 
ments in  their  foreign  relations,  —  such  as  their  correspond- 
ence, agreements,  and  recognition  of  certain  duties  and  rights,'- 
(5)  acts  of  legislatures  in  recognition  of  international  law,  (6) 
judicial  decisions  in  prize  courts  and  other  maritime  cases, 
(7)  writers  and  authorities  on  international  law,  who  attempt 
to  define  or  interpret  this  law.  Such  are  the  sources  of  inter- 
national law,  which  give  sanction  and  force  to  it  and  restrain 
nations  from  disregarding  it. 

America's  Foreign  Policy 

America  sought  her  independence  by  entering  into  a  Euro-  ^^J^^^'^^Jy. 
pean  alhance.  The  Continental  Congress  made  two  treaties  no  Entangling 
with  France  in  177S  by  which,  in  return  for  France's  aid  in 
gaining  our  independence,  we  agreed,  among  other  things, 
to  aid  France  in  defending  her  American  possessions  in  the 
West  Indies.  This  treaty  was  a  great  help  to  America,  but 
after  our  independence  was  obtained  it  proved  embarrassing 
and  it  turned  out  to  be  the  last  as  well  as  the  first  treaty  of 
alliance  into  which  America  ever  entered.  When  Washington 
was  President  and  war  broke  out  between  Great  Britain  and 
France  in  1793,  France  called  on  us  to  "make  good"  on  our 
part  of  the  alliance.  But  Washington  wished  the  rising  young 
nation  of  America  to  pursue  a  pohcy  of  neutraUty  toward 
the  warring  European  nations.  He  did  not  wish  the  United 
States  to  get  mixed  up  in  European  affairs.  He  interpreted 
the  French  treaty  as  consistent  with  that  poHcy  and  he  did 

or  in  the  United  States.  In  this  passage  the  word  state  is  used  to 
signify  a  politically  independent  sovereignty,  which  Americans  usually 
call  a  nation. 

1  The  executive  is    usually   the  branch  of    the  government   which 
conducts  foreign  relations. 


Alliances 


358 


THE   CITIZEN  AND  THE   REPUBLIC 


Adams  and 

Jefferson 

follow 

Washington's 

Example 


not  believe  it  committed  America  to  take  part  on  the  side  of 
France  in  the  European  war.  Washington  announced  that 
"the  duty  and  interest  of  the  United  States  require  that  they 
should  with  sincerity  and  good  faith  adopt  and  pursue  a  con- 
duct friendly  and  impartial  toward  the  belligerent  powers."^ 

Later  in  his  Farewell  Address  Washington  urged  upon  his 
country  as  a  fixed  and  permanent  policy  "to  observe  good 
faith  and  justice  toward  all  nations;  to  cultivate  peace  and 
harmony  with  all,  to  avoid  "inveterate  antipathies  against 
particular  nations  and  passionate  attachment  for  others," 
and  "to  steer  clear  of  permanent  alliances  with  any  portion 
of  the  foreign  world."  "Against  the  insidious  wiles  of  foreign 
influence  a  free  people  ought  to  be  constantly  awake.  .  .  . 
The  great  rule  of  conduct  for  us  in  regard  to  foreign  nations 
is,  in  extending  our  commercial  relations,  to  have  with  them 
as  little  political  connection  as  possible."  Washington  saw 
that  Europe  had  a  set  of  interests  remote  from  American 
interests,  and  that  European  nations  were  likely  to  be  involved 
frequently  in  controversies  and  wars  the  causes  of  which  were 
foreign  to  our  affairs.  He,  therefore,  wished  America  to  pursue 
her  own  course;  to  remain  one  people,  to  grow  strong,  and  to  be 
well  prepared  to  defend  herself  under  an  efficient  government. 
Then  "we  may  choose  peace  or  war,  as  our  interest  guided  by 
justice  shall  counsel."  - 

Jefferson,  as  Secretary  of  State  under  Washington,  accepted 
this  policy  and  helped  to  carry  it  out.  John  Adams,  following 
Washington  as  President,  pursued  the  same  policy,  maintain- 
ing peace  with  France  and  making  sacrifices  in  order  to  free 
his  country  from  the  obligations  of  the  French  treaties  of  1778, 
and  when  Jefferson  became  President  he  adopted  the  Washing- 
ton policy,  announcing  in  his  inaugural  address  for  America's 
guidance  the  famous  maxim,  "Friendly  relations  with  all 
nations,  entangling  alliances  with  none."     Ever  since  the  time 

1  Proclamation  of  Neutrality,  April  23,  1793. 

2  Washington's  Farewell  Address. 


THE   NATION   IN   ITS   FOREIGN   RELATIONS        359 

of  Washington  and  Jefferson  this  has  been  the  foreign  policy 
of  America  toward  European  affairs. 

The  Monroe  Doctrine 

Washington's  policy  of  American  freedom  from  European 
interests,  alliances,  and  wars  was  confirmed  by  the  Monroe 
Doctrine.  This  famous  doctrine  was  announced  by  President 
Monroe  in  his  message  to  Congress,  December  2,  1823.  This 
doctrine  consists  of  two  distinct  parts  which  may  be  summed 
up  in  two  words:  i.   Non-colonization.     2.   Non-intervention. 

These  two  ideas  are  separated  in  the  message;  they  are 
separated  in  the  circumstances  from  which  they  arose,  they 
are  separated  in  the  things  to  which  they  apply,  and  they  are 
separated  in  the  principles  of  international  law  on  which  they 
depend. 

The  first  part  of  the  doctrine  was  the  outcome  of  a  dispute 
between  Russia,  Great  Britain,  and  the  United  States  over 
the  Northwest  territory  on  the  Pacific  (the  Oregon  country). 
A  nation's  title  to  newly  discovered  territory  depends  in 
international  law  upon  three  facts  —  discovery,  exploration, 
and  settlement.  There  were  claims  and  counterclaims  among 
these  nations.  John  Quincy  Adams,  our  Secretary  of  State 
under  Monroe,  wished  to  forestall  any  further  European 
claims  to  territory  on  the  American  continents.  He  therefore 
induced  Monroe  to  insert  this  part  of  the  doctrine  in  his 
message:  "  The  American  continents,  by  the  free  and  independent 
condition  which  they  have  assumed  and  maintain,  are  henceforth 
not  to  be  considered  subjects  for  future  colonization  by  European 
powers.'"  This  was  the  announcement  not  so  much  of  a  doctrine 
as  of  a  fact  in  poHtical  geography.  The  age  of  discovery 
and  colonization,  Adams  asserted,  was  past  so  far  as  the 
American  continents  are  concerned.  All  the  territory  was 
now  in  possession  of  some  sovereign  power.  Great  Britain 
denied  this  to  be  in  harmony  with  the  fact,  as  she  was  still 
seeking  to   colonize   the  Northwest   and  by  exploring  and 


Non- 
colonizatloa 


360 


THE   CITIZEN   AND  THE   REPUBLIC 


Non- 
interventloii 


The  Holy 
Alliance,  1816 


planting  trading  posts  to  establish  her  claims  to  that  region. 
But  whether  the  colonizing  age  in  America  had  passed  away 
in  1823  it  has  certainly  passed  away  now. 

The  second  part  of  the  Monroe  doctrine  was  the  outcome 
of  a  system  of  alliance  and  interference  by  certain  powers  of 
Europe  in  an  effort  to  control  the  destinies  and  forms  of  govern- 
ment in  other  countries.  The  Holy  Alliance  was  a  combination 
of  European  sovereigns  formed  in  181 5,  partly  for  the  purpose 
of  helping  one  another  to  maintain  their  power;  to  prevent 
anything  like  popular  revolt  or  revolution  among  the  people, 
and  to  prevent  the  overthrow  of  absolute  monarchy  and  the 
substitution  therefor  of  republican  or  constitutional  govern- 
ments. The  Alliance  interfered  several  times  among  the 
weaker  nations  of  Europe  to  suppress  popular  liberty  and  to 
prevent  their  peoples  from  overthrowing  their  monarchs  and 
setting  up  free  governments  of  their  own.  In  1822  the  powers 
of  the  Holy  AlUance  were  about  to  cross  the  Atlantic  ocean 
and  apply  their  system  of  interference  in  America.  They 
were  threatening  to  interfere  with  the  republics  of  South 
America  which  had  been  for  a  number  of  years  seeking  to 
establish  their  independence  from  Spain.  The  military 
power  of  these  combined  European  governments  —  Prussia, 
Austria,  Russia,  France,  —  was  to  be  brought  to  the  aid  of 
Spain  to  be  used  in  America  to  reduce  to  subjection  Spain's 
revolted  colonies,  and  to  restore  the  absolute  monarchical 
authority  of  Spain.  American  sympathy  was  with  the  South 
American  republics  in  their  struggle  for  independence,  and 
the  people  of  the  United  States  believed  that  the  people  in 
the  Central  and  South  American  countries  should  be  allowed 
to  determine  their  own  destiny  and  their  own  form  of  govern- 
ment in  their  own  way. 

When  the  designs  of  the  Holy  Alliance  became  known  to 
Great  Britain,  Canning,  the  English  minister  for  foreign 
affairs,  wrote  to  Richard  Rush,  the  American  minister  in 
England,  urging  the  United  States  to  take  decided  ground 


THE  NATION   IN   ITS   FOREIGN   RELATIONS        36 1 

against  intervention  in  South  America  by  the  Allied  Powers. 
England  wished  the  South  American  republics  to  become 
independent  for  commercial  reasons.  Rush  wrote  to  Monroe, 
and  Monroe  submitted  the  correspondence  to  Jefferson,  asking 
his  advice.     Jefferson,  in  a  famous  letter,  replied: 

"This  raises  the  most  momentous  question  since  independ- 
ence. Our  first  and  fundamental  maxim  should  be  never  to 
entangle  ourselves  in  the  broils  of  Europe;   our  second,  never    Jefferson's 

.  .         .  „   .  Advice  to 

to  allow  Europe  to  intermeddle  with  cis-Atlantic  affairs.  Monroe 
America  should  have  a  system  separate  and  apart  from  that 
of  Europe.  Now  that  England  offers  to  come  to  our  side  in 
this  opportunity  we  should  improve  the  opportunity  to  protest 
against  atrocious  violations  of  the  rights  of  nations  by  inter- 
ference." 

The  substance  of  Jefferson's  advice  Monroe  inserted  in  his 
message  as  the  second  part  of  the  Monroe  Doctrine: 

The  political  system  of  the  Allied  Powers  is  essentially 
different  from  that  of  America.  Any  attempt  on  their  part  to 
extend  their  system  of  interference  to  any  portion  of  this  hemi- 
sphere is  dangerous  to  our  peace  and  safety.  .  .  .  We  could 
not  view  any  interposition  for  the  purpose  of  oppressing  them 
{the  Spanish  American  States']  or  controlling  in  any  manner 
their  destiny  by  any  European  power  in  any  other  light  than  as 
a  manifestation  of  an  unfriendly  disposition  toward  the  United 
States.^ 

This  does  not  say  that  the  Unites  States  would  go  to  war  to 
prevent  European  interference  in  America,  that  is,  to  defend 
the  Monroe  doctrine;  but  it  does  say  that  its  violation  would 
be  considered  as  an  unfriendly  act.  What  should  be  done 
about  it  would  have  to  be  determined  by  the  circumstances. 
The  warning  which  it  contained,  in  conjunction  with  the 
friendly  British  policy,  effectually  prevented  any  European 
interference  in  South  America  at  that  time. 

^  Message  of  Monroe,  December  2,  1823. 


362  THE  CITIZEN  AND  THE   REPUBLIC 

Applications  of  the  Monroe  Doctrine 

This  doctrine,  or  policy,  arose  from  the  circumstances  of 
the  time,  and  it  was  probably  intended  to  have  only  a  tem- 
The  Case  of  porary  application.  But  public  men  and  writers  have  applied 
Yucatan,  1848  ^-j^g  doctrine  in  a  permanent  and  broader  way.  In  April,  1848, 
following  the  close  of  the  Mexican  War,  President  Polk  asked 
Congress  for  authority  to  take  possession  of  Yucatan.  The 
Mosquito  Indians  in  that  country  were  waging  a  war  of 
extermination  against  the  whites.  The  Yucatan  whites 
appealed  to  the  United  States  for  aid,  offering  to  transfer  to 
the  United  States  the  territory  and  dominion  of  the  country 
in  return  for  help  in  suppressing  the  insurrection  of  the  Indians. 
The  whites  of  Yucatan  had  also  applied  for  aid  to  England 
and  Spain,  and  President  Polk  was  afraid  that  if  we  did  not 
accept  the  offer,  Yucatan  might  pass  under  the  control  of  one 
of  these  powers.  Polk,  in  addressing  Congress,  referred  to 
the  Monroe  doctrine  as  "opposed  to  the  transfer  of  American 
territory  to  any  European  power."  He  urged  Congress  to 
take  steps  to  prevent  Yucatan  from  becoming  a  European 
colony,  which  "in  no  event  could  be  permitted  by  the  United 
States."  President  Polk  held  that  the  Monroe  doctrine  op- 
posed the  further  acquisition  of  any  European  dependency  in 
America,  and  upon  this  ground  we  should  resist  the  English 
possession  of  Yucatan. 

It  was  on  this  occasion  that  Mr.  Calhoun,  then  the  only 
surviving  member  of  Monroe's  Cabinet,  said  that  Polk  was 
urging  an  entire  misconception  of  Monroe's  original  declaration. 
Calhoun  said  that  when  the  occasion  and  circumstances  which 
called  forth  the  declaration  had  passed  away,  the  doctrine, 
or  declaration  (made  only  for  the  occasion),  had  also  passed 
away.  Calhoun  claimed  that  the  United  States  had  not 
announced  a  general  and  permanent  policy,  or  rule,  of  opposing 
European  acquisition  or  intervention  in  America,  and  that 
Monroe's  "  noncolonization "  applied  only  to  new  land  un- 


THE  NATION   IN   ITS  FOREIGN   RELATIONS       363 

claimed  and  unpossessed  and  consisted  merely  in  denying  that 
there  was  any  such  land  in  America;  and  that  every  case  of 
attempted  intervention  should  be  decided  on  its  own  merits 
and  be  resisted  or  assented  to  accordingly.  Justice  and  the 
interests  of  the  United  States  were  to  determine  in  each  case. 
Calhoun  opposed  our  interference  in  Yucatan  in  1848  because 
he  thought  circumstances  did  not  justify  it.  Other  senators 
thought  the  Monroe  policy  committed  us  against  any  further 
acquisition  of  territory  on  this  continent  by  European  powers. 
Thus,  we  see,  a  difference  as  to  the  scope  of  the  Monroe  doc- 
trine had  already  arisen. 

In  1 86 1  England,  France,  and  Spain  united  to  secure  redress  TheCaseof 
and  security  for  their  citizens  in  Mexico.  Some  of  these  isei-ises 
citizens  held  Mexican  bonds  which  Mexico  was  unwilling,  or 
unable,  to  pay.  Complaint  was  also  made  that  life  and  prop- 
erty were  not  safe  in  Mexico.  In  order  to  prevent  the 
threatened  European  interference  the  United  States  offered 
aid  or  credit  to  help  Mexico  pay  her  debts.  Mexico  consented 
to  this  arrangement,  but  when  Secretary  Seward  gave  infor- 
mation of  this  to  the  allied  powers,  this  proposal  for  a  peaceful 
settlement  was  rejected.  One  excuse  for  European  inter- 
vention in  Mexico  was  now  taken  away,  but  these  allied 
powers  still  proposed,  in  effect,  to  make  war  on  Mexico  in 
order  to  set  up  a  new  government  there,  on  the  pretext  that 
foreign  residents  were  not  safe  in  that  country. 

The  United  States  did  not  deny  the  right,  in  international 
law,  of  one  nation  to  make  war  on  another  for  reasons  deemed 
good  and  sufficient  by  the  belligerent  nations.  But  the 
reasons  and  motives  behind  this  European  war  of  intervention 
in  Mexico  were  not  above  suspicion.  This  was  seen  in  the 
letter  of  the  French  Emperor  ordering  his  military  commander 
to  march  upon  the  capital  of  Mexico:  'To  redress  grievances, 
to  establish  bounds  to  the  extension  of  the  United  States  further 
south,  to  prevent  her  from  becoming  the  sole  dispenser  of  the 
products  of  the  new  world"    So  it  was  seen  to  be  a  movement 


364  THE  CITIZEN  AND  THE   REPUBLIC 

for  power  and  commercial  influence  with  a  view  to  restricting 
the  power,  influence,  and  importance  of  the  United  States. 
The  movement  was  a  scheme  of  Napoleon  III  of  France, 
who  wished  to  lay  in  Mexico  the  foundations  of  French  su- 
premacy, "to  prevent  the  preponderance  of  the  United  States 
in  the  trade  of  the  western  hemisphere  and  to  turn  the  tide  of 
race  predominance  in  the  Americas  in  favor  of  the  Latins."  ^ 

In  April,  1862,  at  another  conference  of  the  three  European 
powers,  England  and  Spain  objected  because  France  had  gone 
beyond  the  terms  of  the  first  agreement  in  giving  military 
aid  in  Mexico  to  the  party  favoring  an  imperial  government, 
and  these  two  powers  withdrew  from  further  co5peration. 
France,  whose  money  claims  against  Mexico  were  smaller  and 
more  questionable  than  the  other  powers,  was  now  left  to 
herself  in  Mexico.  She  proceeded  by  military  aid  to  the  im- 
perialist party  to  establish  that  party  in  possession  of  the 
Mexican  capital.  The  republican  constitutional  president  ^ 
was  driven  out,  and,  without  even  a  pretense  of  getting  the 
consent  of  the  Mexican  people,  the  French  proceeded  to  set 
up  an  imperial  form  of  government  and  to  offer  the  throne  to 
the  Archduke  Maximilian  of  Austria.  The  misguided  Maxi- 
milian accepted  the  crown  and  the  French  Emperor  acknowl- 
edged his  government  and  entered  into  a  treaty  with  it  to  give 
it  support  and  security  by  military  aid. 

Here  was  a  plain  palpable  violation  of  the  Monroe  doctrine. 
Here  was  a  clear  undisputed  European  interposition  for  the 
purpose  of  "controlling  the  destiny"  of  an  American  state. 
The  interests  of  the  United  States  were  certainly  involved. 
If  the  Monroe  doctrine  were  not  to  be  asserted  and  defended 
in  such  a  flagrant  intervention  in  the  affairs  of  an  American 
state,  it  is  not  to  be  doubted  that  it  could  never  again  have 
been  consistently  referred  to  as  a  principle  or  precedent  in  our 
foreign  relations.     It  is  important  to  note  how  the  precedent 

1  Bancroft's  Life  of  Seward,  II,  423. 

2  Juarez. 


THE   NATION   IN   ITS   FOREIGN   RELATIONS         365 

of  Monroe  and  Adams  was  followed  by  Lincoln,  Seward,  and 
Grant 

This  French    intervention  in   Mexico  occurred  at  a   time  Lincoln,  Seward 
when  the  United  States  had  its  hands  tied  by  the  mighty  ^f?!^*" 

"^  1       uphold  the 

struggle  of  the  Civil  War.  It  may  have  been  purposely  Monroe 
timed  with  that  embarrassment  in  view.  But  before  the  doctrine 
close  of  the  war  Congress  denounced  the  French  intervention. 
President  Lincoln's  Secretary  of  State,  William  H.  Seward, 
in  his  diplomatic  correspondence  with  Napoleon's  government, 
plainly  restated  the  Monroe  doctrine  and  America's  position, — 
that  we  regarded  France  as  a  belligerent  in  Mexico,  with  the 
right  to  occupy  Mexican  soil  for  war  purposes,  but  that  France 
had  no  right  "to  destroy  the  domestic  republican  government 
of  Mexico  and  to  establish  there  an  imperial  system  under  the 
sovereignty  of  a  European  prince."  The  presence  of  such  a 
government,  so  long  as  it  should  endure,  could  not  but  be 
regarded  by  the  people  of  the  United  States  as  injurious  and 
menacing  to  their  interests  and  republican  institutions. 
Every  state  on  the  American  continent  had  a  right  to  secure 
for  itself  a  republican  government,  and  any  attempt  by  foreign 
powers  to  control  these  states  or  to  prevent  their  enjoyment  of 
such  institutions  as  they  wished  to  establish  was  wrongful 
and  antagonistic  to  the  United  States. 

This  was  a  fair  expression  of  the  Monroe  doctrine.  General 
Grant  enforced  it.  He  looked  upon  the  French  intervention 
in  Mexico  "as  a  direct  act  of  war  against  the  United  States 
and  supposed  as  a  matter  of  course  that  the  United  States 
would  treat  it  as  such  were  their  hands  free  to  strike."  He 
had  reason  to  think  that  Lincoln  felt  the  same  way.  Ac- 
cordingly, "after  the  surrender  of  Lee,"  says  Grant,  "I  sent 
Sheridan  with  a  corps  to  the  Rio  Grande  to  have  them  where 
they  might  aid  Juarez  ^  in  expelling  the  French  from  Mexico. 
These  troops  got  off  before  they  could  be  stopped,  and  Sheridan 
distributed  them  up  and  down  the  river  to  the  consternation 
^  The  Mexican  Republican  leader. 


366  THE  CITIZEN  AND  THE  REPUBLIC 

of  the  French."  ^  The  French  government  asked  their  with- 
drawal, but  Seward  insisted  upon  the  withdrawal  of  the 
French,  and  the  result  was  that  the  French  troops  were  with- 
drawn and  Maximilian's  government  toppled  to  its  fall. 
The  Mexican  Republicans  regained  power  and  MaximiHan 
was  captured  and  shot. 

In  1895  a  long-standing  boundary  dispute  between  Vene- 
zuela and  British  Guiana  came  to  a  head.  Venezuela  claimed 
that  for  many  years  Great  Britain  had  been  gradually  ex- 
tending the  boundaries  of  British  Guiana  at  the  expense  of 
Venezuela.  Diplomatic  relations  between  Great  Britain  and 
Venezuela  had  been  broken  off  and  the  question  arose  as  to 
whether  Great  Britain  was  seeking  to  acquire,  or  colonize, 
territory  in  America  contrary  to  the  Monroe  doctrine.  The 
United  States  had  sought  to  get  this  boundary  dispute  settled 
by  arbitration,  but  Great  Britain  refused  and  questioned  the 
right  of  the  United  States  to  interfere.  She  contended  that 
the  dispute  was  of  concern  merely  to  Great  Britain  and 
Venezuela.  But  President  Cleveland  and  his  Secretary  of 
State,  Mr.  Richard  Olney,  insisted  that  the  United  States 
was  concerned  and  had  a  right  to  interpose,  in  harmony 
with  the  traditional  American  policy  of  the  Monroe  doctrine. 
Secretary  Olney  acknowledged  that  the  Monroe  doctrine  did 
not  make  the  United  States  the  protector  of  other  American 
states,  nor  relieve  any  of  them  from  obligations  as  fixed  by 
international  law,  nor  prevent  any  European  power  from 
enforcing  such  obligations  or  from  inflicting  merited  punish- 
ment for  the  breach  of  them;  but  "its  single  purpose  and 
object"  was  that  "no  European  power  or  combination  of 
powers  should  forcibly  deprive  an  American  state  of  the 
right  and  power  of  self-government  and  of  shaping  for  itself 
its  own  political  fortunes  and  destinies."  This  was  held  to 
mean  that  none  of  its  territory  should  be  forcibly  taken  from 
an  American  state  by  a  European  power. 

1  Memoirs  of  Grant,  Vol.  II,  pp.  545-546. 


THE  NATION  IN  ITS  FOREIGN  RELATIONS       367 

Was  this  a  part  of  the  Monroe  Doctrine?  President  Cleve- 
land thought  so.  In  December,  1895,  the  President  sent  a 
message  to  Congress  in  which  he  affirmed  that  "the  tradi- 
tional and  established  poKcy  of  this  Government  is  firmly- 
opposed  to  a  forcible  increase  by  any  European  power  of  its 
territorial  possession  on  this  continent";  and  inasmuch  as 
Great  Britain  had  refused  impartial  arbitration,  a  commis- 
sion of  the  United  States  should  investigate  the  matter  and 
come  to  its  own  decision.  "When  such  report  is  made  and 
accepted  it  will,  in  my  opinion,"  said  President  Cleveland, 
"be  the  duty  of  the  United  States  to  resist  by  every  means 
in  its  power,  as  a  wilful  aggression  on  its  rights  and  interests, 
the  appropriation  by  Great  Britain  of  any  lands  or  the  exer- 
cise of  governmental  jurisdiction  over  any  territory  which 
after  investigation  we  have  determined  of  right  belong  to 
Venezuela." 

This  meant  that  the  United  States  was  ready  to  go  to  war, 
if  need  be,  to  defend  this  interpretation  of  the  Monroe  doc- 
trine. Neither  Great  Britain  nor  America  desired  war,  and 
the  outcome  of  the  matter  was  that  England  and  Venezuela 
consented  to  leave  their  boundary  dispute  to  an  international 
tribunal.  War  was  thus  avoided  and  the  Monroe  doctrine  was 
vindicated  or  enlarged. 

Thus  we  see  that  from  the  time  of  its  original  announcement   3"^®  Enlarged 

Monroe 

in  1823  the  Monroe  doctrine  has  been  enlarged  and  extended  Doctrine 
in  the  public  mind  of  the  United  States  until  it  has  come  to 
mean,  in  a  general  way,  "America  for  the  Americans,"  that  we 
must  prevent  all  European  interference  with  American  affairs 
(in  politics  and  government)  and  prevent  the  transfer  of  any 
American  territory  to  any  European  power  ;^  that  no  European 

1  Thus,  while  Spain  owned  Cuba  and  Denmark  owned  certain  islands 
in  the  West  Indies  we  would  have  objected,  and  did  so  object,  to  the 
transfer  of  these  islands  to  any  other  European  power.  Spain  and 
Denmark  were  weak  or  decHning  powers.  It  was  the  threatening 
increase  in  America  of  the  strong  powers  with  which  we  are  chiefly 
concerned. 


368 


THE  CITIZEN  AND  THE   REPUBLIC 


European 
Nations  and 
the  Monroe 
Doctrine 


state  shall  be  allowed  to  extend  its  system  of  government  to 
this  continent;  and  that  the  Monroe  doctrine  commits  the 
United  States  to  the  obligation  of  defending  the  independence 
of  our  sister  republics  on  this  side  of  the  Atlantic  and  of  pro- 
tecting the  territory  of  Central  and  South  America  against 
settlement,  appropriation,  or  invasion  by  any  European  power. 
This  is  different  from  the  original  Monroe  doctrine,  but  it 
has  become  under  that  name  the  accepted  pohcy  of  the  United 
States,  and  it  is  for  this  reason  that  a  powerful  navy  and 
adequate  "preparedness"  are  necessary  under  present  world 
conditions  as  the  best  means  of  preserving  peace  for  the  western 
world  by  preventing  European  intervention  and  aggression 
toward  the  weaker  American  powers. 

Will  the  European  nations,  with  strong  miUtary  power 
to  back  them,  seek  to  establish  colonies  in  the  Western  hemi- 
sphere, or  to  obtain  territory  by  purchase  or  conquest  for 
this  purpose,  in  order  to  extend  their  trade,  their  power,  their 
empire,  and  their  imperial  control  to  any  part  of  America? 
If  so,  the  Monroe  policy  would  call  upon  the  United  States 
to  resist  such  designs.  Our  first  duty  is  to  protect  our  own 
territory  and  the  Uves  and  property  of  our  citizens.  Is  it  not 
also  our  duty  to  stand  by  the  guarantees  of  the  enlarged 
Monroe  doctrine  by  protecting  the  territory  of  South  America 
and  the  Western  hemisphere  from  settlement  or  invasion  on 
the  part  of  European  powers?  Should  we  not  assist  our  sister 
repubhcs  on  this  side  of  the  Atlantic  to  defend  their  inde- 
pendence rather  than  leave  them  open  to  attack  or  appro- 
priation by  stronger  powers? 

It  is  clearly  our  duty  to  prevent  any  European  nation 
from  extending  its  ambition  for  power  and  empire  to  the 
American  continents,  ''peaceably  if  we  can,  forcibly  if  we 
must."  This  may  be  done  without  war,  indeed  it  may  be  a 
means  of  preventing  war. 

In  the  interest  of  world  peace  President  Wilson  proposed 
even  a  larger  application  of  the  Monroe  doctrine,  that  it  should 


^i^lD-fiflj)  (Longrfss  of  t^c  Initfb  States  t!'  3.-t;M:- 

^t  the  i'lrst  J>cssiou, 

li-.'Kun   and  held  at   the   City   of   WashinRton   on   Monday,   tlic   stcon.i    >:a,    .f 
one  thousand  nini-  hundred  and  se-.entcen. 


JOINT  RESOLUTION 


JJeclarint;  that  a  .-liilc  <'t'  \\:ir  r\islv  l,clucc-ii  ilir  liii]«Ti:il  Cmtiiuui  r,u\,  nniiri, 
anil  the  OtAi'rniiicMi  and  ibr  |«'0|.lc  i<\'  iIk-  riiilf<l  Stati'^  aii<l  uiukiii; 
provision  to  prosoriilc  llir  !--mw. 


Wlirrcas    llu'    Ini|MTial    (icruiall    (MiMTlilMrnt    ha^    i liiiltid    rc|ii'al.M|    mcI:-    nl 

war  airaiii-l    llir   fioMTiiiiiriit   aii<l    lii.'    pi-opl,-   ol    llic    I'Milcd   Siaic~   <A 
America  :  Tlicrifurr  l>c  it 

Jirxolr,,!  l„/l/,r  SrnnI,  ,n,>l  ll„iis.  ,,,  l;.,,n..„l.,l,,.<nf\l„  C nUuf  SU,U  • 
(>/  America  i'./  < 'mi'/nx.^  iis.'^oiihlr,/.  That  lln'  ^lal<•  nf  war  Ix-luctai  llic  I'liilcl 
States  and  the  liii|HTiiil  <ii;rmaii  (io\erniiieiit  wliidi  has  thus  heen  ilirii^l  iipoii 
the  rniletl  Slates  in  hcrchy  formally  deelareil :  and  that  the  I'residiiit  Im-.  ami 
he.  is  herehy,  authorized  and  directed  to  employ  the  entirt  iiavu!  and  iiiilitai\ 
forces  of  tlie  I'nited  States  and  the  resources  of  the  (ioveriinient  t<j  carry oin\.ir 
against  the  lm|H'rial  German  Ciovernment;  and  to  bring  the  c<)ulli(  i  lu  :: 
succewiful  termination  all  of  the  resources  of  the  country  are  hereby  plfsi^ed  I, , 
the  Congress  of  the  I'nited  States. 

/ 


Speaker  of  the  Mouee  oj  RpprcsenUitir,  s. 


(^/^^  /.^^>^,/f7 


Vice  Preiidenl  oj  the  Umited  Stales  and 

Preskienl  of  the  SenaU. 


Recognition  of  the  German  War  against  the  United  States 


THE  NATION   IN   ITS   FOREIGN   RELATIONS        369 

be,  not  an  American  doctrine,  but  a  world  doctrine:   "That  the    The  Monroe 
nations  should  with  one  accord  adopt  the  doctrine  of  President    ^T^l^^^ 
Monroe  as  the  doctrine  of  the  world;    that  no  nation  should    Doctrine" 
seek  to  extend  its  policy  over  any  other  nation  or  people, 
but  that  every  people  should  be  left  free  to  determine  its  own 
policy,  its  own  way  of  development,  unhindered,  unthreatened, 
unafraid,  the  little  along  with  the  great  and  the  powerful." 
This  would  make  for  peace  with  all  nations,  which  is  America's 
chief  desire. 

To  promote  this  noble  end  America  found  it  necessary 
to  depart  from  her  traditional  policy  of  isolation  and  of 
avoiding  all  "entangHng  aUiances."  Great  Britain  and 
France  have  already  assented  to  the  appHcation  of  the 
Monroe  doctrine  on  certain  occasions.  We  might  enter  into 
treaty  arrangements  with  these  great  powers  by  which  they 
would  consent  to  recognize  and  support  the  Monroe  policy 
as  a  permanent  rule  of  conduct.  The  proposal  has  already 
been  made  to  induce  the  "ABC  Powers"  (Argentina,  Brazil, 
Chili)  to  recognize  its  validity  and  to  cooperate  with  us  in  its 
defense,  and  we  may  find  it  desirable  to  enter  into  a  Pan- 
American  alliance  for  this  cause.  The  permanent  purpose 
of  the  Monroe  doctrine  is  to  keep  the  peace  on  this  side 
of  the  Atlantic  against  aggression  and  attack  by  European 
powers,  in  order  that  every  nation  in  the  two  Americas  may 
be  left  free  to  control  its  own  territory  and  work  out  its  own 
destiny  and  progress  in  its  own  way.  America  must  be  pre- 
pared for  that  defense  as  long  as  danger  threatens  from  any 
war-making  nation  of  Europe. 

The  Great  War  revealed  the  nation  in  Europe  against 
whose  hostility  and  spirit  of  conquest  America  needs  to  be  on 
her  guard.  The  imperial  and  miUtary  rulers  of  Prussia,  with 
their  purpose  of  obtaining  "a  place  in  the  sun,"  have  looked, 
not  only  to  Asia  and  Africa,  but  to  South  America  for  com- 
mercial and  colonial  enlargement.  The  Monroe  doctrine  has 
been  an  obstacle  in  their  path.     German  hostiUty  to  that 


370 


THE  CITIZEN  AND  THE  REPUBLIC 


The  Unity  of 
Engllsh- 
speakl 
Peoples  a 
Guarantee 
of  Peace 


doctrine  is  well  known.  On  the  other  hand,  Great  Britain  is 
an  American  power,  with  more  territory  in  the  Western  World 
than  has  the  United  States  itself.  Great  Britain  helped  to 
originate  the  Monroe  doctrine  in  1823;  she  has  since  gener- 
ously recognized  it  in  restraint  of  her  own  aggrandizement, 
while  her  navy,  together  with  that  of  America,  has  been  the 
main  defense  against  European  encroachment. 

Britain  and  America  are  territorial  neighbors.  With  an  un- 
fortified frontier  boundary  line  of  3000  miles  between  them,  the 
English-speaking  peoples  of  America  and  Canada  have  lived 
side  by  side  in  an  unbroken  peace  for  more  than  one  hundred 
years.  In  the  Great  War  they  fought  together  to  save  them- 
selves and  the  world  against  an  autocratic,  war-making  mili- 
tary power  which  would  override  the  Monroe  doctrine  to 
extend  its  dominion  in  America  as  soon  as  its  interests 
prompted  and  its  power  permitted. 

The  world  struggle  has  made  it  clear  that  the  English- 
speaking  peoples  throughout  the  world  should  stand  to- 
gether, if  not  in  an  alliance,  at  least  in  an  entente  cordiale 
and  a  good  understanding.  They  are  democratic  self- 
governing  nations,  inheriting  common  traditions  and  habits, 
with  a  common  language,  with  common  political  ideas  and 
institutions  based  on  the  same  historic  foundations  of  civil 
liberty.  They  have  common  interests  to  defend  against 
conquest  and  encroachment.  Their  mutual  cooperation  and 
support  of  one  another  in  international  affairs  will  not  only 
help  America  to  maintain  the  Monroe  doctrine  but  it  will 
promote  throughout  the  world  the  underlying  purpose  of  that 
doctrine,  —  the  self-direction  of  all  nations  and  the  establish- 
ment of  a  firm  foundation  for  a  just  and  lasting  peace  through- 
out the  world.  America  does  not  wish  to  be  Germanized  nor 
to  have  cultivated  among  her  people  the  Prussian  idea  of 
world  conquest  and  war.  To  prevent  this,  and  to  bring  it 
about  that  the  world  may  be  ruled  by  reason  and  self  control 
instead  of  brute  force,  that  the  world  may  be  made  a  safe 


THE  NATION   IN   ITS   FOREIGN   RELATIONS        371 

place  in  which  individuals  and  democratic  nations  may  de- 
velop their  own  lives  without  fear  of  becoming  the  prey  of 
foreign  aggression,  America  was  forced  to  depart  from  her 
isolation  and  enter  the  great  World  War. 

War,  Belligerency,  and  Neutral  Rights 

War  is  the  use  of  force  among  nations,  a  contest  of  armed 
public  forces,  conducted  according  to  recognized  rules  of  war. 
Whether  it  is  right  or  wrong  depends  upon  the  purpose  for 
which  it  is  made  and  the  method  in  which  it  is  waged.  It  may 
be  waged  to  enforce  a  right  or  redress  a  wrong,  if  reason  and 
a  sense  of  justice  fail  to  accomplish  these  ends.  It  is  the  last 
resort  of  nations,  and  each  nation  must  answer  to  its  own 
conscience  and  to  the -judgment  of  the  world  for  its  motives 
and  its  conduct. 

A  belligerent  is  one  of  the  warring  powers.  If  an  insur- 
rection or  rebellion  occurs  within  a  state  the  insurgents  may  be 
recognized  as  a  belligerent  if  they  show,  as  a  matter  of  fact, 
that  they  are  able  to  carry  on  a  public  civil  war  in  a  legal 
sense;  that  is,  if  they  can  show  that  they  are  politically 
organized  under  a  responsible  government  and  can  protect 
the  lives  and  property  of  citizens  and  residents  in  the  territory 
over  which  the  insurgent  government  has  control.  In  1861- 
1865  the  independence  of  the  Southern  Confederacy  was  not 
recognized  by  any  foreign  power;  the  South  did  not  succeed 
in  establishing  that;  but  the  Confederacy  was  recognized 
as  a  belligerent.  The  North  felt  that  England  was  a  little 
hasty  in  doing  this,  but  Mr.  Lincoln,  acting  for  the  government 
of  the  Union,  practically  recognized  the  belligerent  status  of 
the  South  when  he  declared  the  Southern  ports  in  a  state  of 
blockade  (April  19,  1861).  This  recognition  admitted  the 
South  to  international  standing  only  so  far  as  conducting  war 
was  concerned. 

Belligerency  carries  with  it  the  right  to  visit  and  search    Belligerent 
neutral  vessels  at  sea;    to  destroy  enemy  vessels  without      ^  ^ 


372 


THE  CITIZEN  AND  THE   REPUBLIC 


Conflict  of 

Interest 
between 
Belligerents 
and  Neutrals 


being  guilty  of  piracy;  to  capture  contraband  goods;  to  insti- 
tute a  blockade;  to  commission  privateers  and  armed  cruisers, 
to  take  and  exchange  prisoners,  and  to  do  all  things  which  a 
civilized  power  may  do  in  carrying  on  war.  But  if  belliger- 
ency arises  from  an  insurrection  or  rebellion  it  does  not  involve 
making  treaties  with  foreign  powers  or  exchanging  diplomatic 
agents.  That  would  be  to  recognize  the  independence  of  the 
insurgent  belligerent  and  to  receive  it  permanently  into  the 
family  of  nations,  which  should  not  be  done  until  the  contest 
between  the  insurgents  and  the  parent  state  is  held  to  he 
decided. 

When  two  nations  are  at  war  the  belligerents  have  certain 
rights  which  neutral  states  are  bound  to  respect.  The  neutral 
states,  also,  have  certain  rights  which  are  to  be  respected  by 
the  belligerent  powers  in  their  conduct  of  the  war.  A  neutral 
state  is  one  that  abstains  from  the  war,  rendering  no  aid  or 
service  to  either  belligerent.  It  seeks  to  be  impartial  and  to 
take  no  part  in  the  contest,  but  to  maintain  the  usual  peaceful 
relations  with  both  belligerents.  This  is  not  always  easy  to 
do,  because  the  interests  of  belligerents  and  neutrals  are  likely 
to  come  into  conflict.  The  neutral  wishes  to  be  free  from  the 
losses  and  burdens  of  the  war  and  to  have  the  trade  of  its 
people  with  other  nations  go  on  without  interruption.  But  it 
is  the  right  of  either  belHgerent  to  stop,  if  he  can,  the  transport 
to  his  enemy  of  all  goods  or  articles  which  will  reinforce  that 
enemy  and  enable  him  to  prolong  the  struggle.  For  this 
reason  naval  power,  or  sea  power,  is  very  important,  and  the 
nations  that  command  the  seas  have  a  tremendous  advantage 
over  their  enemies.  They  can  secure  munitions,  foodstuffs,  and 
all  kinds  of  supplies  from  neutral  nations  and  from  their  own 
dominions  across  the  seas. 

In  the  World  War  English  sea  warfare  consisted,  chiefly, 
not  in  great  battles,  but  in  guarding  convoys  and  supply 
ships,  and  in  hunting  down  a  few  German  cruisers  in 
the  beginning  of  the  war  and  in  "bottling  up"  the  German 


THE  NATION   IN   ITS  FOREIGN  RELATIONS       373 

fleet.  When  a  war  breaks  out,  a  merchant  vessel  of  one  of 
the  belhgerents  may  deem  it  unsafe  to  continue  its  peaceful 
commercial  voyages,  if  the  enemy  has  greater  sea  power.  It 
may,  therefore,  take  refuge  in  a  neutral  port,  and  not  venture 
out  to  sea  where  the  vessel  and  cargo  might  be  captured  or 
destroyed  by  an  enemy- cruiser  hovering  about  on  the  look- 
out for  such  prey.  A  number  of  large  German  vessels  of 
the  Hamburg-American  and  North  German  Lloyd  lines  were 
hospitably  protected  in  American  ports,  until  America  was 
forced  into  the  war;  then  they  were  taken  over  (sequestered) 
by  the  United  States  for  naval  and  transport  uses,  as  a  bel- 
ligerent has  a  right  to  do  with  enemy  property,  settlement  to 
be  made  at  the  close  of  the  war. 

If  a  war  vessel  enters  a  neutral  port  to  avoid  the  enemy 
or  to  escape  from  stress  of  weather,  the  neutral  is  bound  to 
give  notice  that  the  warship  must  leave  in  twenty-four  hours. 
If  it  does  not  leave  within  the  time  limit,  to  escape  or  to 
face  the  enemy,  then  the  vessel  and  crew  are  "interned," 
that  is,  kept  in  the  neutral  country  during  the  continuance 
of  the  war.  The  crew  may  be  confined  within  certain  Hmits 
by  the  neutral  or  paroled  on  a  pledge  of  honor  that  they 
will  not  escape  to  serve  their  country  again  while  the  war 
lasts.  If  soldiers  on  land  are  forced  by  retreat  into  neutral 
territory  they  are  also  interned  for  the  war.  A  neutral  must 
not  allow  its  territory  to  be  used  by  a  belligerent,  not  even 
as  a  refuge,  nor  as  a  base  for  transmitting  wireless  messages 
from  coast  stations  to  belligerent  warships,  nor  allow  a 
belligerent  airplane  even  to  fly  over  it. 

In  the  process  of  stopping  all  goods  and  reinforcements  going 
to  the  enemy  which  may  help  the  enemy  continue  the  war,  a  RigW  of  Visit 
belligerent  may  not  only  capture  or  destroy  all  enemy  vessels, 
but  the  belligerent  may  also  stop  at  sea  any  neutral  vessel,  may 
visit  it  (board  it)  and  search  it  and  take  it  into  port,  and  take 
from  it  all  contraband  goods  on  board  which  the  belligerent 
finds  are  destined   for   the  enemy.     This  gives    the   bellig- 


374  THE  CITIZEN  AND  THE  REPUBLIC 

erent  a  good  deal  of  control  over  the  commerce  of  the  neutral 
Contraband  [^  ^-jj^g  of  -^a^j-.  The  belUgerent  may  absolutely  prohibit, 
if  he  can,  all  trade  with  its  enemy  in  contraband  goods  and  all 
trade  of  any  kind  with  places  and  ports  that  are  besieged  or 
blockaded.  Contraband  goods  are  those  which  are  useful  for 
miUtary  purposes.  It  is  impossible  to  make  a  list  of  contra- 
band articles.  What  is  contraband  may  depend  upon  cir- 
cumstances, or  the  destination  of  the  goods,  or  a  treaty 
agreement  between  nations.  The  chief  point  is  whether  the 
articles  are  intended  for,  or  are  likely  to  be  used  for,  military 
purposes.  They  will  be  released  or  condemned  according  to 
that.  It  is  considered  legitimate  in  war  to  starve,  or  exhaust, 
a  place  or  nation  into  subjection.  Vicksburg  in  1863  was 
forced  to  surrender  in  this  way,  and  when  the  Union  blockade 
of  Southern  ports  was  completed  in  1865  the  Southern  Con- 
federacy was  almost  starved  out,  even  before  Lee  surrendered 
at  Appomattox. 

A  neutral  nation  does  not  attempt  to  transport  contra- 
band goods  to  a  belligerent  —  that  would  be  an  act  or  a 
Private  Trade  In  causc  of  war  —  but  the  individual  citizens  of  that  nation  may 

Contraband  .  rii-,i'  •*  ^ 

Goods  do  SO  m  the  course  of  trade  tor  their  own  gam.     A  neutral 

nation  may  allow  its  people  to  engage  in  contraband  trade, 
but  they  do  so  at  their  own  risk,  as  all  such  trade  may  be 
treated  as  illegal  by  a  belligerent  and  the  contraband  goods 
be  confiscated.  That  is,  if  a  private  merchant  ship  flying  a 
neutral  flag  is  carrying  contraband  goods  to  a  belligerent  port, 
or  if  it  attempts  to  break  through  a  blockade,  it  is  engaging 
in  a  trade  which  the  other  belligerent  has  a  right  under  inter- 
national law  to  prevent  if  it  can.  If  it  has  the  power  to  do  so, 
the  belligerent  may  seize  such  neutral  ship  and  penalize  it. 
The  penalty  may  be  the  confiscation  of  the  goods  and  some- 
times of  the  ship,  and  these  penalties  are  imposed  by  the  prize 
courts  of  the  belligerent  country.  That  is,  international  law 
gives  to  the  belligerent  as  a  means  of  defeating  its  enemy  the 
right  to  stop  and  search  all  neutral  merchant  vessels  on  the 


THE   NATION   IN   ITS   FOREIGN   RELATIONS        375 


high  seas  or  when  approaching  blockaded  ports,  for  the  pur- 
pose of  determining  the  nationaUty  of  the  ship  and  the  nature 
of  the  goods. 

Contraband  trade  and  the  violation  of  blockade  must  be 
prevented  by  the  belligerent,  not  by  the  neutral.  The  citi- 
zens of  a  neutral  nation  have  a  right  to  engage  in  unin- 
terrupted trade  so  long  as  the  belligerents  have  not  the 
will  nor  the  power  to  prevent  it.  Shipment  of  munitions 
and  war  supplies  from  America  to  the  Allies  in  the 
World  War,  while  America  was  a  neutral,  was  freely  en- 
gaged in,  only  because  the  Central  Powers  (Germany  and 
Austria)  had  not  the  sea  power  to  prevent  it.  The  pro- 
posal to  have  the  United  States  Government  put  an  em- 
bargo on  munitions  and  war  supphes  and  prohibit  their 
export  was  made  in  the  interest  of  Germany  and  Austria. 
That  would  have  been  an  unneutral  act,  hostile  to  the  Allies, 
as  it  would  have  changed  the  rules  and  conditions  for  the 
conduct  of  the  war  after  the  war  had  begun.  Any  bellig- 
erent that  would  attempt  to  carry  the  goods  home  could 
get  them.  That  Great  Britain  and  France  were  able  to 
get  the  goods  because  of  sea  power,  while  Germany  was  not, 
was  one  of  the  fortunes  of  war.  If  America  had  helped 
Germany  and  Austria  by  preventing  the  Allies  from  ship- 
ping war  supplies  from  our  ports,  then  that  nation  would 
have  the  advantage  in  the  war  which  had  done  most  to 
prepare  for  war.  If  it  were  known  that  such  a  policy 
would  be  pursued  by  neutral  nations,  in  case  war  should 
arise,  then  all  nations  in  times  of  peace  would  feel  compelled 
to  turn  their  energies  to  military  purposes,  to  establishing 
munition  plants,  to  storing  up  war  supplies,  to  raising  and 
drilhng  armies,  and  to  directing  their  industries  and  govern- 
ment in  preparation  for  war,  since  each  nation  in  war  would 
have  to  depend  on  its  own  resources. 

America  as  a  Peace  Power  has  always  contended  for  the    t^®"^*;*'^ 

-'  struggle  for 

protection  of  neutral  rights  and  the  enlargement  of  neutral   Neutral  Rights 


The  Question, 
of  Embargo  on 
Munitions 


376  THE   CITIZEN   AND  THE   REPUBLIC 

interests.  During  the  Civil  War,  while  the  United  States  was 
a  belligerent,  our  interests  were  on  the  other  side  of  the  question 
and  we  insisted  on  holding  neutrals  to  a  strict  accountability; 
but  usually,  as  in  European  wars,  American  interests  have  lain 
with  the  neutrals.  During  the  Napoleonic  wars  (1793-1815), 
when  nearly  all  the  powers  of  Europe  were  belligerents,  for 
or  against  Napoleon,  America  sought  to  maintain  her  neu- 
trality. Both  Great  Britain  and  France  committed  aggression 
and  violence  against  American  commerce.  The  depredations 
of  France  brought  on  a  state  of  quasi-war  with  that  country 
in  1798,  and  later  the  wrongs  inflicted  by  England  upon  the 
sea,  in  stopping  and  seizing  American  vessels  and  cargoes, 
interrupting  American  commerce,  and  impressing  American 
seamen,  brought  on  the  War  of  181 2.  America  declared 
for  "Free  trade  and  sailors'  rights."  This  did  not  mean 
opposition  to  a  protective  tariff,  but  it  meant  the  "  freedom  of  the 
seas,"  —  that  the  high  seas  should  not  be  under  the  jurisdiction 
or  control  of  any  nation  but  should  be  open  to  the  uninterrupted 
trade  of  all  nations,  and  that  the  belligerents  should  be  re- 
quired to  interfere  with  neutral  trade  as  little  as  possible. 

Our  interests  have  generally  led  us  to  favor  the  restriction 
of  belligerent  power  and  the  enlargement  of  neutral  rights. 
America  has,  therefore,  been  ready  to  contend  for  all  rules 
favorable  to  neutrals  proposed  from  time  to  time,  —  that 
contraband  goods  should  be  reduced  to  the  minimum  and 
that  foodstuffs  (which  the  United  States  is  always  in  a  position 
to  furnish  belligerents)  should  not  be  included;  that  a  neutral 
ship  should  be  allowed  to  carry  enemy  goods,  if  they  were  not 
Principles  of  contraband;  in  harmony  with  the  maxim,  "Free  ships  make 
of  Paris,  1856  free  goods,"  that  neutral  goods  (not  contraband)  should  be 
free  from  capture  and  confiscation  even  if  they  were  in  an 
enemy's  ship;  and  that  a  blockade  to  be  binding  must  be  effec- 
tive, —  that  is,  it  must  be  maintained  by  a  force  sufficient 
really  to  prevent  access  to  the  coast  of  the  enemy. 

A  blockade  is  the  forcible  closing  of  a  belligerent's  ports  or 


THE   NATION   IN   ITS   FOREIGN   RELATIONS        377 

harbors.  It  suspends  neutral  commerce  with  such  ports. 
In  exercising  this  right  a  belHgerent  may  designate  a  whole 
coast  line  as  blockaded,  or  the  mouth  of  a  river,  an  entrance 
to  a  gulf  or  bay,  and  he  may  prevent  access  to  blockaded 
places  by  ships  of  war,  or  by  batteries  if  these  can  be  planted 
on  land.  A  blockade  must  be  announced  to  neutral  powers,  i.e. 
notice  must  be  given;  it  must  be  applied  impartially  to  the 
ships  of  all  nations;  and  it  can  be  appHed  only  to  an  enemy's 
ports  and  coasts.  A  paper  blockade  is  a  mere  declaration  of 
blockade,  and  a  neutral  vessel  is  not  to  be  condemned  for 
intention  to  disregard  it,  if  searched  at  sea  and  evidence  is 
found  from  the  ship's  papers  that  it  is  destined  to  or  from 
a  port  merely  declared  under  blockade.  The  neutral  vessel 
before  it  may  be  condemned  must  be  "caught  in  the  act" 
of  actually  running  the  blockade,  or  attempting  to  do  so. 
There  must  be  an  effective  blockading  force. 

These  principles,  in  the  interest  of  neutrals,  which  America 
has  long  stood  for,  have  now  become  international  law. 
They  were  set  forth  by  the  Five  Great  European  Powers  in 
the  famous  Declaration  of  Paris  in  1856.  This  Declaration 
added  another  principle,  "Privateering  is  abolished."  The  Privateering 
United  States  did  not  accept  this  at  the  time  (though  we 
now  act  upon  it)  because,  not  having  a  large  navy,  we  wished 
to  rely  upon  privateers,  in  case  of  war,  as  destroyers  of  an 
enemy's  commerce.  We  proposed  a  more  liberal  policy  in  the 
interest  of  peaceful  neutral  nations.  America  proposed  to 
abolish  privateering  provided  the  Great  Powers  of  Europe 
would  agree  to  refrain  from  the  capture,  confiscation,  and 
destruction  oj  all  private  property  at  sea.  The  Powers  refused 
to  sanction  this  hberal  enlargement  of  neutral  interests.  It 
would  have  reduced  sea  warfare  to  blockades  and  sieges  and 
combats  between  public  armed  vessels  of  the  belligerents. 
American  influence  will  be  helpful  in  bringing  about  in 
time  this  enlightened  policy  in  the  interest  of  peace-keeping 
nations. 


378  THE   CITIZEN   AND  THE   REPUBLIC 

The  Submarine  Soon  after  the  European  War  of  1914  began,  the  com- 
As  a  Commerce  merce  of  Germany  was  swept  from  the  seas  and  the  few  war 
Destroyer  cruisers  which  she  had  on  the  open  ocean  were  run  down  and 

destroyed.  She  attempted  to  retaUate  by  trying  to  destroy 
the  commerce  of  her  enemies  in  order  to  prevent  their 
getting  food  and  war  supphes  from  over-sea,  by  the  use  of 
the  submarine,  a  new  vessel  in  naval  warfare.  As  a  means  of 
enabling  her  to  strike  at  English  commerce,  Germany  is- 
sued a  decree  declaring  that  a  "zone  of  war"  existed  within 
the  waters  adjacent  to  the  British  Isles  and  that  all  vessels 
flying  the  flag  of  Great  Britain,  or  of  any  of  her  allies, 
were  liable  to  destruction  in  those  waters  and  that  travelers 
sailing  in  the  war  zone  on  ships  of  Great  Britain  or  her 
allies  did  so  at  their  own  risk.  The  United  States  protested 
against  this  decree,  warning  Germany  that  if,  in  pursuance 
of  it,  American  citizens  lost  their  lives,  Germany  would  be 
held  to  "strict  accountability."  We  have  pointed  out  that 
a  neutral  vessel  must  submit  to  visit  and  search  to  enable 
the  belligerent  to  see  if  contraband  goods  are  on  board. 
The  merchantman  belonging  to  a  beUigerent  power  may  be 
captured  as  a  prize  and  taken  into  port;  or  if  this  is  not 
possible  the  merchant  vessel  may  be  sunk.  But  before  sinking 
a  merchant  vessel  of  the  enemy,  it  is  the  bounden  duty  of  the 
belligerent  to  provide  for  the  safety  of  the  passengers  and  crew. 
If  the  enemy  merchantman  has  guns  on  board  and  makes 
forcible  resistance  when  hailed  by  an  enemy  war  vessel,  or  if 
the  merchantman  attempts  to  escape  by  flight  when  ordered 
to  stop  for  the  purpose  of  visit,  then  the  belligerent  war  vessel 
may  sink  the  merchantman,  and  if  the  lives  of  the  innocent 
passengers  are  forfeited  the  commander  of  the  merchantman 
would  be  responsible. 

The   passengers   and   crew   of   merchantmen   are   innocent 

The  Lusitania  noncombatauts  who  have  no  part  nor  lot  in  the  war  and  are 

not  subject  to  its  penalties.     They  have  not  forfeited  their 

lives  by  traveling  on  a  peaceful  passenger  vessel  belonging 


THE   NATION   IN   ITS   FOREIGN   RELATIONS        379 


to  citizens  of  one  of  the  belligerents,  and  no  commander  of 
the  other  belligerent  has  a  right  to  condemn  them  to  death. 
It  was  failure  to  give  warning  and  allow  time  for  passengers 
and  crew  to  escape  that  made  the  sinking  of  the  Lusitania 
such  a  heinous  wrong.  Men,  women,  and  children  were 
drowned  in  the  sea,  without  any  chance  for  their  lives,  and 
among  them  over  one  hundred  American  citizens.  It  was  a 
barbarous  atrocity. 

The  United  States  solemnly  protested  against  this  dis- 
regard of  "those  rules  of  fairness,  reason,  justice,  and 
humanity  which  all  modern  opinion  regards  as  impera- 
tive." It  is  practically  impossible  for  the  officers  of  a 
submarine  to  visit  a  merchantman  at  sea  and  examine  her 
papers  and  cargo.  It  is  practically  impossible  for  them  to 
make  a  prize  of  her;  and  if  they  cannot  put  a  prize  crew 
on  board  of  her,  they  cannot  sink  her  without  leaving  her 
crew  and  all  on  board  of  her  at  the  mercy  of  the  sea  in  her 
small  boats.  Therefore  it  is  clear  that  submarines  cannot 
be  used  against  merchantmen  without  "the  inevitable  viola- 
tion of  the  sacred  principles  of  justice  and  humanity."^ 

America  and  World-Peace 

One  of  the  problems  in  international  law  now  confronting 
America  relates  to  the  duty  which  devolves  upon  her  in  refer- 
ence to  the  rights  of  nations.  The  United  States  has  united 
in  an  Institute  of  International  Law  representing  twenty-one 
republics  in  North  and  South  America.  This  Institute  or 
Conference  has  announced  certain  rights  which  its  members 
claim  belong  to  all  nations.  These  rights  relate  especially 
to  the  violation  of  neutral  territory  and  the  rights  of  neutral 
nations  against  the  aggressions  of  warring  nations. 

I.  Every  nation  has  a  right  to  exist.  As  one  human  being 
has  no  right  to  take  the  life  of  another,  so  no  nation  may  take 
or  threaten  the  life  of  another  nation.  The  life  of  a  small 
^  President  Wilson's  note  to  Germany,  May  13,  1915. 


America  and 
the  Rights  of 
Nations 


380  THE   CITIZEN   AND  THE   REPUBLIC 

nation  is  just  as  sacred  and  as  precious  as  the  life  of  a  large 
nation. 

2.  Every  nation  has  the  right  to  independence,  as  every 
man  to  the  pursuit  of  happiness.  It  should  be  allowed  to 
control  itself  and  grow  and  develop  in  its  own  way. 

3.  Every  nation  is,  in  law,  the  equal  of  every  other  nation. 
The  perfect  equality  and  entire  independence  of  all  nations 
is  a  fundamental  principle  of  public  law.  In  a  society  of 
nations' all  are  on  the  same  footing  and  each  may  "assume 
among  the  powers  of  the  earth  the  separate-  and  equal  station 
to  which  the  laws  of  nature  and  of  nature's  God  entitle  it," 
says  the  Declaration  of  Independence.  The  relative  power  of 
a  nation,  whether  it  be  strong  or  weak,  makes  no  difference. 

4.  Every  nation  has  a  right  to  the  territories  within  its 
defined  boundaries.     These  should  be  held  to  be  inviolable. 

5.  All  nations  have  an  equal  right  to  the  uninterrupted 
use  of  the  seas.  On  the  high  seas  all  states  meet  on  a  footing 
of  absolute  equahty  and  independence.  There  no  state  has 
a  right  to  exercise  any  authority  upon  the  subject  or  citizen 
of  any  other  state.  This  refers  of  course  to  conditions  of 
peace. 

These  rights  which  each  nation  .has  are  entitled  to  be  pro- 
tected by  all  other  nations.  Right  and  duty  are  correlative. 
The  right  of  one  imposes  a  duty  on  all  to  observe  the  right. 

After  the  World  War  is  over  the  greatest  problem  of 
the  nations  will  be  how  to  prevent  war.  There  is  a 
rising  demand  in  America  that  the  influence  of  this  nation 
among  the  other  nations  of  the  world  should  be  so  used 
as  to  lead  to  the  substitution  of  reason  for  force  in  the 
conduct  of  nations.  We  must  insist  upon  the  substitution  of 
permanent  peace  for  hideous  war.  What  are  the  means 
proposed  by  which  the  United  States  may  lend  her  aid 
in  bringing  this  about?  How  are  differences  between 
nations  to  be  settled  by  reason  instead  of  by  force  and 
destructive  war? 


THE  NATION   IN   ITS   FOREIGN   RELATIONS 


381 


1.  More  democratic  control  of  foreign  affairs.  It  has  been 
observed  that  wars  are  brought  on  by  monarchs,  rulers,  and 
diplomats  for  ambitious,  dynastic,  and  financial  reasons. 
The  people  who  have  to  bear  the  burdens  and  pay  the  taxes 
of  war  and  give  their  lives  in  its  battles  are  not  consulted. 
This  is  largely  true.  Three  or  four  men  on  the  war  staff  or 
in  the  foreign  office  beyond  the  control  of  the  people  may  de- 
cide the  awful  issues  of  peace  or  war,  of  life  and  death  and 
poverty,  for  millions  of  people.  This  is  true  not  only  in 
monarchical  countries  but  in  democratic  countries.  Foreign 
policies,  like  domestic  policies,  should  be  made  more  respon- 
sible to  the  people,  so  that  if  there  is  to  be  war  the  people  may 
choose  it  with  their  eyes  open,  or  that  the  people  may  have  the 
power  to  determine,  if  war  is  to  come,  that  it  shall  be  fought 
only  in  a  just,  righteous,  and  vital  cause. 

2.  Arbitration  treaties.  America  has  made  a  number  of  such 
treaties  with  other  nations.  A  number  of  these  were  renewed 
in  1914.  In  general  such  treaties  agree  that  when  differences 
arise  between  the  United  States  and  an,other  power  they 
should  be  submitted  for  discussion  and  decision  to  an  impartial 
tribunal.  Such  an  arbitration  tends  to  remove  ill  feeling 
and  to  promote  good  will,  and  while  all  wars  may  not  be 
prevented  in  this  way,  every  successful  arbitration,  like  that 
of  our  treaty  with  Great  Britain  (1871)  resulting  in  the  Geneva 
Arbitration,  tends  to  reduce  the  probability  of  war.  Great 
Britain  and  the  United  States  also  arbitrated  the  Venezuela 
boundary  dispute  in  1899,  and  in  this  spirit  of  forbearance,  good 
will,  and  arbitration  these  two  nations  have  kept  the  peace 
for  over  one  hundred  years.  It  should  be  our  purpose  so 
to  act  and  live  with  all  the  nations  of  the  world. 

3.  The  Hague  tribunal,  a  permanent  court  of  arbitration. 
There  have  been  two  conferences  of  the  nations  at  The  Hague 
(1899,  1907)  in  an  effort  to  promote  international  arbitration 
and  to  induce  the  nations  to  recognize  a  permanent  tribunal 
for  the  settlement  of  disputes,  and  to  proceed  in  their  conduct 


Foreigrn 
Affairs  and 
Popular  Rule 


Arbitration  by 
Treaties 


The  Hague 
Tribunal 


382 


THE  CITIZEN  AND  THE   REPUBLIC 


An  Interna- 
tional Court 
for  Judging 
Disputes  be- 
tween Nations 


toward  one  another  on  principles  and  rules  agreed  to  by  a 
peaceful  conference  of  nations.  The  Hague  Conference  has 
proposed  several  ways  by  which  nations  may  be  aided  in 
avoiding  war.  One  is  that  friendly  nations  may  be  encouraged 
to  offer  their  mediation  (their  ''good  offices")  to  two  nations 
that  have  not  been  able  to  settle  their  differences  by  diplomacy. 
Another  is  that  when  peace  is  endangered  a  commission  of 
inquiry  may  be  appointed  to  aid  in  the  solution  of  the  disputes. 
But  especially  the  Hague  Conference  has  undertaken  to  main- 
tain a  permanent  court  of  arbitration,  accessible  at  all  times, 
competent  to  try  all  arbitration  cases  unless  the  parties  agree 
to  a  special  tribunal.  This  permanent  court  is  to  sit  at  The 
Hague.  Each  contracting  power  willing  to  enter  upon  this 
plan  may  select  not  more  than  four  persons  versed  in  inter- 
national law,  "of  the  highest  moral  reputation,"  and  these 
representatives  of  the  various  nations  constitute  a  list  as  a 
court  of  arbitrators.  From  this  list  the  two  nations  whose 
differences  are  to  be  arbitrated  may  select  the  tribunal.  Each 
party  to  the  dispute  selects  two  arbitrators  from  the  list  of  the 
full  court,  but  only  one  so  selected  may  be  from  among  the 
persons  named  by  it  as  members  of  the  permanent  court. 
After  the  four  arbitrators  are  chosen,  these  four  choose  an 
umpire.  If  three  of  the  four  cannot  agree  upon  an  umpire, 
a  third  power  chooses  one. 

To  such  a  court,  high  minded,  fair,  impartial,  created  to 
preserve  peace  and  avoid  war,  it  is  proposed  that  nations  should 
submit  their  differences,  on  all  subjects  that  are  justiciable; 
that  is,  such  as  can  be  settled  on  principles  of  law,  justice,  and 
equity.  This  involves  an  international  judiciary,  or  the  judi- 
cial settlement  of  international  disputes.  It  means  that  just 
as  individuals  have  united  in  the  community  and  the  state 
to  avoid  strife  and  private  war  and  community  feuds  and  to 
preserve  the  order  and  peace  of  society,  so  nations  are  going 
to  unite  and  submit  their  differences  to  an  international 
court  of  reason  and  equity. 


THE   NATION   IN   ITS   FOREIGN   RELATIONS        383 
The  individual  in  society  can  be  controlled.     If  he  is  quarrel-    ^^^^ue  for  the 

.       .  -         .  .  Enforcement 

some  and  lawless,  if  he  insists  on  fighting  and  shooting  and  of  Peace 
killing  some  of  his  neighbors,  the  state  can  imprison  him  or 
put  him  where  he  can  do  no  harm.  The  police  and  the  sheriffs 
and  the  miUtia  exist  to  keep  the  peace  against  such  danger- 
ous characters.  But  there  is  no  international  police,  no  inter- 
national power  to  enforce  the  judgment  of  the  Hague  Court 
after  a  quarrel  has  been  arbitrated.  If  there  is  a  quarrelsome 
warHke  nation  bent  on  enlarging  its  boundaries  and  its  power, 
which  insists  upon  going  on  the  warpath  to  shoot  and  kill 
and  destroy,  how  can  such  a  nation  be  restrained?  It  will 
have  to  be  restrained  like  an  outlaw  among  men,  —  by  force, 
by  a  combination  of  nations  for  this  purpose.  A  force  must 
be  created  so  much  greater  than  the  force  of  any  nation  or 
any  alliance  hitherto  formed  that  no  nation  or  combination 
of  nations  can  face  or  withstand  it. 

It  seems  that  the  United  States  is  entering  upon  a  new  era   a  New  Era 
in  connection  with  foreign  nations.     Washington  and  Monroe    p^rei^  ^^ 
insisted  upon  a  policy  of  isolation.     This  was  a  wise  policy  for    Relations 
the  time,  but  the  times  have  changed.     America  is  now  a 
world   power   and   must   assume   its   responsibility   as   such. 
Isolation  is  no  longer  possible.     It  took  the  Pilgrim  Fathers 
sixty  days  to  reach  America  from  Europe.     It  takes  five  days 
now,    and    communication   is    instantaneous.     The    Atlantic 
Ocean  is  no  longer  a  barrier  but  a  highway  between  nations, 
and    for   certain   purposes   a   subway.      ResponsibiUties   are 
forced  upon  us  which  we  cannot  avoid. 

One  of  our  pubHc  men  has  well  expressed  the  spirit  in 
which  we  should  act  and  the  policy  by  which  we  should  be 
controlled  in  this  new  era  in  American  history:  "We 
wish  for  no  victories  but  those  of  peace;  for  no  territory 
except  our  own;  for  no  sovereignty  except  the  sov^ereignty 
over  ourselves.  We  deem  the  independence  and  equal  rights 
of  the  smallest  and  weakest  member  of  the  family  of  nations 
entitled  to  as  much  respect  as  those  of  the  greatest  empire, 


384 


THE  CITIZEN  AND  THE   REPUBLIC 


American 
Policy  toward 
Other  Nations 


and  we  deem  the  observance  of  that  respect  the  chief  guarantee 
of  the  weak  against  the  oppression  of  the  strong.  We  neither 
claim  nor  desire  any  rights,  or  privileges,  or  powers,  that  we 
do  not  freely  concede  to  every  American  republic.  We  wish 
to  increase  our  prosperity,  to  expand  our  trade,  to  grow  in 
wealth,  in  wisdom,  and  in  spirit,  but  our  conception  of  the  true 
way  to  accomplish  this  is  not  to  pull  down  others  and  profit 
by  their  ruin,  but  to  help  all  friends  to  a  common  prosperity 
and  a  common  growth  that  we  may  all  become  greater  and 
stronger  together."  ^ 


TOPICS  AND    QUERIES 

Debate:    (i)  "Resolved,  that  America  should  abandon  the  policy 
of  isolation  from  European  affairs." 

(2)  "Resolved,    that    the    Monroe  Doctrine    should    be 

abandoned  by  the  United  States." 

(3)  "Resolved,  that  President  Cleveland  was  not  justified 

in  asserting  the  Monroe  Doctrine  in  the  Vene- 
zuela case." 

(4)  "Resolved,   that   the   United  States   should   join   the 

league  for  the  Enforcement  of  Peace." 
How  can  the  rights  and  independence  of  small  nations  be  made 

secure  against  aggression  and  conquest  from  the  strong  nations? 
What  proposals  are  now  outstanding  to  enable  the  nations  to  act 

together  for  permanent  peace? 
Would  it  be  wise,  or  possible,  to  refer  to  the  people  the  question  of 

whether  the  nation  should  enter  upon  a  war? 
How  can  international  law  be  enforced? 
How  has  the  Monroe  Doctrine  changed  and  grown  since  it  was 

announced?     Did  Monroe  declare  a  fact,  a  principle,  or  a  policy? 


REFERENCES 

Consult  recent  periodical  literature.  There  are  any  number  of  articles 
relating  to  the  Monroe  Doctrine  and  American  Foreign  Relations 
in  the  magazines  of  recent  years. 

Coolidge,  Archibald  C.      The  United  States  as  a  World  Power. 

Dana's  Wheaton's  International  Law.     See  long  footnote  on  the  "Mon- 
roe Doctrine." 
1  Elihu  Root  at  the  Pan-American  Conference  at  Rio  de  Janeiro, 

July  31,  1906. 


THE  NATION    IN   ITS   FOREIGN   RELATIONS        385 

Davis,  George  B.     International  Law. 

Foster,  John  W.     A  Century  of  American  Diplomacy. 

Hart,  A.  B.     Foundations  of  Foreign  Policy. 

Henderson,  J.  B.     American  Diplomatic  Questions. 

Hershey,  Amos  S.  Essentials  of  International  Law.  See  index  on  the 
topics  of  the  chapter. 

Reddaway,  W.  F.      The  Monroe  Doctrine. 

See  the  Pamphlet  Series  of  the  World  Peace  Foundation,  40  Mt. 
Vernon  St.,  Boston.  The  High  School  Library  may  be  placed 
without  cost  on  the  mailing  list  of  this  organization. 


CHAPTER  XX 


Importance  of 
Ideals 


I.  Principles 
of  the 

Declaration    of 
Independence 


AMERICAN   IDEALS   IN   GOVERNMENT 

A  Nation  lives  by  its  faith,  by  what  it  believes.  It  must 
have  visions  which  it  hopes  to  realize  and  ideals  toward 
which  it  strives.  All  achievement  in  government  begins 
with  an  idea.  The  thought  of  good  government  goes  before 
the  work  of  good  government.  Men  must  believe  before  they 
will  act;  they  must  be  devoted  to  their  ideals  before  they  will 
live  for  them  or  labor  for  them.  Before  the  building  rises 
the  plan  must  be  made;  so  before  a  people  can  erect  a  state 
to  govern  justly  they  must  know  what  justice  is  and  desire  it; 
they  must  keep  it  before  them  as  an  ideal.  "We  must  have 
our  eyes  steadfastly  fixed  upon  the  idea  of  good  if  we  wish 
to  conduct  ourselves  wisely  in  private  or  public  life."  ^ 

Principles  of  the  Declaration  of  Independence 

When  James  Russell  Lowell  was  asked  how  long  he  thought 
the  American  repubhc  would  live  he  replied,  "As  long  as  its 
people  are  true  to  the  ideals  of  its  founders."  The  founders 
of  the  American  republic  announced  certain  principles  as  its 
foundation  stones.  Some  of  these  are  in  the  memorable 
words  of  the  Declaration  of  Independence,  words  which  ought 
to  find  a  place  in  the  heart  and  memory  of  every  American 
citizen: 

"We  hold  these  truths  to  he  self-evident:  that  all  men  are 
created  equal;  that  they  are  endowed  by  their  creator  with  certain 
inalienable  rights;  that  among  these  are  life,  liberty,  and  the 
pursuit  of  happiness;  that  to  secure  these  rights,  governments  are 

1  Plato,  The  Republic. 
386 


AMERICAN   IDEALS   IN   GOVERNMENT  387 

instituted  among  men,  deriving  their  just  powers  from  the  consent 
of  the  governed;  that  whenever  any  form  of  government  becomes 
destructive  of  these  ends,  it  is  the  right  of  the  people  to  alter  or 
abolish  it,  and  to  institute  new  government,  laying  its  founda- 
tion on  such  principles  and  organising  its  powers  in  such  form, 
as  to  them  shall  seem  most  likely  to  effect  their  safety  and  happi- 
ness." 

This  teaches: 

1.  That  men  have  rights,  — hfe,  Hberty,  pursuit  of  happi- 
ness. This  suggests  the  ideal  of  individual  liberty,  that  an 
individual  has  certain  fundamental  and  inalienable  rights 
which  even  the  state  cannot  override.  ^ 

2.  That  governments  exist  for  the  benefit  of  the  governed, 
to  secure  and  protect  these  rights  of  men.  Government  is 
for  the  people. 

3.  That  these  governments  "derive  their  just  powers  from 
the  consent  of  the  governed."  Government  should  be  of  the 
people  and  by  their  consent. 

4.  Whenever  any  government  usurps  power  and  becomes 
destructive  of  the  rights  of  men,  then  it  is  the  right  of  the 
people  to  overthrow  that  government;  but  when  the  people 
have  overthrown  a  perverted  government,  it  is  their  right 
and  duty  to  establish  a  new  government  on  whatever  principles 
and  in  whatever  form  will  insure  the  public  safety  and  hap- 
piness. This  teaches  the  right  of  revolution  and  the  duty  of 
establishing  law  and  order. 

5.  Under  law  and  government,  and  in  the  protection  of  the 
rights  of  the  people,  "all  men  are  created  equal." 

This  means  "equal  rights  for  all  and  special  privileges  for 
none."     This  is  a  fundamental  maxim  of  American  democracy, 

1  The  student  will  think  of  conflicts  that  arise  between  the  rights  of 
the  individual  and  the  need  and  welfare  of  the  nation.  The  public 
welfare  is  the  highest  law,  to  which  individual  rights  have  to  give  way. 
This  is  especially  true  in  times  of  war  and  of  great  public  danger  when 
service  and  sacrifice  are  expected  of  all.  Then  citizens  willingly  part  with 
their  liberties  for  a  time  in  order  to  preserve  them  forever. 


388  THE  CITIZEN   AND  THE   REPUBLIC 

an  ideal  which  America  has  announced  as  worthy  of  attain- 
ment. It  is  that  all  men,  rich  or  poor,  high  or  low,  ignorant 
or  learned,  white  or  black,  red  or  yellow,  without  regard  to 
lineage,  religion,  color,  race  or  previous  condition  of  servitude, 
—  that  all  must  be  treated  without  discrimination  by  law  and 
government  and  be  allowed  the  fullest  and  freest  exercise  and 
development  of  their  natural  powers.  There  should  be  no 
legal  barrier  to  prevent  any  man  from  acquiring  the  property 
and  rights  or  rising  to  the  position  to  which  another  member  of 
the  community  is  entitled  to  attain.  Accordingly,  rank  and 
privilege,  political  position,  and  the  right  to  rule  "cannot 
be  hereditary,  but  must  be  open  to  every  person  who,  by 
talent,  diligence,  and  good  fortune  is  capable  of  attaining 
to  them."  ^  All  qualities  and  all  inequalities  should  have  fair 
play.  Let  every  individual  in  our  democratic  society  have  a 
chance  to  be  and  do  his  best. 

Much  of  American  history  has  been  inconsistent  with  this 
ideal.  Slavery  was  an  utter  denial  of  it.  In  its  political  and 
economic  life  America  has  not  yet  attained  to  it.  But  the 
ideal  still  lives  as  a  fundamental  article  of  American  faith  and 
the  people  will  continue  the  struggle  to  realize  it  in  practice. 

In  this  Declaration  of  their  ideal  our  fathers  "meant  to  set  up  a 
standard  maxim  for  free  society,  which  should  be  familiar  to  all  and 
revered  by  aU;  constantly  looked  up  to,  constantly  labored  for,  and 
even  though  never  perfectly  attained,  constantly  approximated, 
and  thereby  constantly  spreading  and  deepening  its  influence  and 
augmenting  the  happiness  and  value  of  life  to  all  people  of  all  colors 
everywhere.  .  .  .  Its  authors  meant  it  to  be,  as,  thank  God,  it  is 
now  proving  itself,  a  stumbling  block  to  all  those  who  in  after  times 
might  seek  to  turn  a  free  people  back  into  the  hateful  paths  of  despot- 
ism. They  knew  the  proneness  of  prosperity  to  breed  tyrants,  and 
they  meant  when  such  should  reappear  in  this  fair  land  and  commence 
their  vocation,  they  should  find  left  for  them  at  least  one  hard  nut 
to  crack."  ^ 

'  Lowell,  Essays  on  Government. 

"^  Lincoln's  speech  on  the  Dred  Scott  case,  June  26,  1857. 


AMERICAN  IDEALS   IN  GOVERNMENT  389 

Application  of  Principles  in  the  Constitution 

After  independence  had  been  attained  the  Founders  of 
the  Republic  sought  by  a  Constitution  to  secure  this  liberty 
and  equahty  under  law.  In  doing  this  they  set  forth  other 
ideals. 

The  Founders  decreed  that  there  shall  be  freedom  of  speech,    °-  ^'^  Liberty 

and  Justice 

freedom  of  the  press,  freedom  of  peaceable  assembly,  freedom 
of  petition.  The  homes  of  the  people  shall  be  secure  against 
search,  seizure,  or  intrusion,  except  by  legal  process.  No 
person  shall  "be  twice  put  in  jeopardy  of  life  or  limb  for  the 
same  offense,"  nor  shall  any  person  "be  deprived  of  life, 
liberty,  or  property  without  due  process  of  law."  The  right  of 
trial  by  jury  shall  be  preserved;  no  excessive  bail  shall  be 
required,  nor  excessive  fines  imposed,  nor  cruel  punishments 
inflicted.  No  bill  of  attainder  or  ex  post  facto  law  shall  be 
passed.  The  "privilege  of  the  writ  of  haheas  corpus  shall  not 
be  suspended,  unless  when  in  cases  of  rebellion  or  invasion 
the  public  safety  may  require  it,"  but  any  one  accused  of  crime 
shall  enjoy  the  right  to  a  speedy  and  public  trial  by  an  impartial 
jury  of  the  State  and  district  wherein  the  crime  may  have  been 
committed.  He  shall  not  be  arrested  except  by  legal  process; 
he  shall  be  informed  of  the  exact  nature  of  the  accusation; 
he  shall  be  confronted  by  the  witnesses  against  him,  and  shall 
not  be  compelled  to  testify  against  himself. 

These  are  the  "muniments  of  civil  liberty  "  which  have  come 
down  to  us  from  the  struggles  of  English  history.  They  were 
included  in  the  English  "  Bill  of  Rights,"  and  they  were 
written  in  our  early  State  constitutions  and  in  the  Constitution 
of  the  United  States.^  All  the  States  recognize  and  assert 
these  principles  of  civil  liberty.  We  have  here  the  very  ideals 
for  which  the  Constitution  was  established,  —  to  "  establish 
justice,  insure  domestic  tranquillity  (law  and  order),  provide 
for  the  common  defense,  promote  the  general  welfare,  and 
1  See  Amendments  and  Art.  I,  Sec.  9. 


390  THE   CITIZEN   AND  THE   REPUBLIC 

secure  the  blessings  of  liberty  to  ourselves  and  our  posterity." 
Such  are  the  ideals  for  which  many  of  our  fathers  fought 
and  died. 

These  rights  were  old,  not  new,  in  1776.  They  were  not 
originated  in  the  American  Revolution  or  in  the  Constitution 
of  1787.  The  "embattled  farmers"  who  stood  at  Concord 
and  Lexington  and  the  suffering  heroes  of  Valley  Forge  be- 
lieved in  them  to  the  extent  of  being  ready  to  fight  for  them, 
but  so  did  their  British  ancestors.  The  American  Revolution 
was  in  the  nature  of  a  civil  war  among  British  subjects.  The 
spirit  that  resisted  the  "tyranny  of  George  III,"  that  resisted 
taxation  without  representation  in  America  and  stood  for 
local  self-government  in  domestic  concerns,  was  the  same 
spirit  that  opposed  the  tyranny  of  the  Stuart  Kings,  and  ob- 
jected to  their  forced  loans,  benevolences,  and  ship  money. 
It  was  the  same  spirit  that  fought  for  and  established  in  the 
other  English  civil  war  (1642-1648)  and  in  the  English  Revo- 
lution of  1688,  the  fundamental  essential  maxims  and  ideals 
of  our  liberties,  —  the  rights  of  self-government  and  self- 
taxation,  of  habeas  corpus,  trial  by  jury,  and  the  right  of 
citizens  to  hold  their  rulers,  even  their  kings,  responsible  for 
their  conduct. 

All  we  have  of  freedom,  all  we  use  or  know, 
This  our  fathers  bought  for  us,  long  and  long  ago; 
Ancient  right  unnoticed  as  the  breath  we  draw 
Leave  to  live  by  no  man's  leave  underneath  the  law.^ 

Englishmen  like  Hampden,  and  Pym,  and  Cromwell  in  1642 
stood  on  the  same  ground  as  did  Samuel  Adams  and  Patrick 
Henry,  and  Thomas  Jefferson  and  George  Washington  in 
1776.2 

1  Rudyard  Kipling,  The  King. 

*  This  is  now  generally  recognized  throughout  the  English-speaking 
world.  The  spirit  of  democracy  is  dominant  in  Britain.  There  is  a 
monument  to  Lincoln  in  Edinburgh,  Washington  is  praised  as  a  great 
Englishman,  and  patriotic  celebrations  of  the  4th  of  July  are  sometimes 
observed  in  England. 


AMERICAN   IDEALS   IN   GOVERNMENT  39 1 

These  ideals  of  liberty  and  representative  government  have 
come  down  to  us  from  the  English-speaking  race.  Other 
peoples,  too,  have  believed  in  and  adopted  these  ideals  and 
principles  of  government,  and  through  hardships  they  have 
sought  new  homes  in  America  where  they  might  live  under 
them  and  enjoy  them.  But  these  liberties  were  first  planted 
here  by  Hberty-loving  pioneers  from  Old  England,  from  the 
land  whose  language  we  speak,  whose  customs  we  have  fol- 
lowed, whose  law  and  institutions  we  have  continued,  whose 
ideas  and  spirit  of  liberty  we  have  inherited. 

Among  the  ideals  of  American  liberty  Freedom  of  Religion 
deserves  to  be  emphasized.  "Congress  shall  make  no  law 
respecting  an  establishment  of  religion  or  prohibiting  the 
free  exercise  thereof."  This  principle  was  written  in  our 
Constitution  at  the  very  beginning.'  It  had  been  written 
into  the  State  constitutions  and  into  the  famous  Ordinance 
of  1787  : 

"No  person  demeaning  himself  in  a  peaceable  and  orderly 
manner  shall  ever  be  molested  on  account  of  his  mode  of 
worship  or  religious  sentiments  in  the  said  territory." 

This  religious  freedom  has  led  to  certain  principles  and 
practices  that  have  become  fixed  in  the  constitution  and 
public  opinion  of  America: 

1.  No  union  between  church  and  state. 

2.  No  religious  organization  shall  exercise  control  over 
the  political  action  of  individuals  or  groups.  A  citizen  may 
take  his  religion  but  not  his  politics  from  his  church. 

3.  No  privileges  and  no  disabilities  to  the  citizen  on  account 
of  his  religion. 

4.  Equal  toleration,  equal  protection,  and  fostering  care, 
for  all  religions  by  the  State. 

This  freedom  of  religion,  —  a  free  church  in  a  free  State  — 
our  Pilgrim  Fathers  had  sought  in  the  beginning.     Seeking 

1  See  the  ist  Amendment,  1789. 


in.  Freedom 
of  Religion 


392 


THE  CITIZEN   AND  THE   REPUBLIC 


it  for  themselves  they  helped  to  find  it  for  future  generations 
of  their  countrymen. 

What  sought  they  thus  afar? 

Bright  jewels  of  the  mine? 
The  wealth  of  seas,  the  spoils  of  war? 

They  sought  a  faith's  pure  shrine. 

Ay,  call  it  holy  ground. 

The  soil  where  first  they  trod! 
,         They  have  left  unstained  what  there  they  found  — ■ 
Freedom  to  worship  God!  ^ 


IV.  Obedience 
to  Law  and 
the  Rule 
of  the 
Majority 


Another  worthy  ideal  is  obedience  to  law  and  a  ready 
submission  to  the  will  of  the  majority.  This  is  "the  vital 
principle  of  repubhcs."  ^  This  spirit  will  save  us  from  turbu- 
lence, violence,  anarchy,  and  unnecessary  revolutions.  It 
fjromotes  love  of  order  and  reverence  for  law.  It  may  be 
true  that  no  question  is  settled  till  it  is  settled  right.  The 
majority  may  vote  to  settle  it  wrong  a  great  many  times, 
but  those  who  agitate  for  changes  and  reforms  are  led  to  see 
that  in  a  free  democratic  republic  rights  are  to  be  won  and 
great  changes  made  not  by  bloodshed  and  revolution,  but 
by  means  of  public  discussion  and  the  processes  of  public 
law.  Government  by  law  is  paramount.  This  spirit  will 
also  lead  majorities  in  power  not  to  be  opressive  and  violent 
but  moderate  and  considerate  toward  minorities. 

This  emphasizes  the  importance  of  a  free  press,  free  speech, 
free  assembly, free  discussion,  that  the  people  maybe  informed, 
so  that  false  judgments  may  be  avoided,  errors  corrected,  and 
wrongs  righted.  Under  such  freedom  the  people  will  "wobble 
right,"  as  Lincoln  said,  for  while  "you  may  fool  all  the  people 
some  of  the  time  and  some  of  the  people  all  the  time  you 
cannot  fool  all  the  people  all  the  time." 

While  Abraham  Lincoln  was  yet  a  young  man  he  held  up 
this  ideal  of  obedience  to  the  law  before  his  fellow-citizens: 

1  Mrs.  Hemans,  "  The  Pilgrim  Fathers." 

2  Jefferson,  First  Inaugural  Address. 


AMERICAN   IDEALS   IN   GOVERNMENT  393 

"Let  every  American,  every  lover  of  liberty,  every  well- 
wisher  to  his  posterity,  swear  by  the  blood  of  the  Revolution 
never  to  violate  in  the  least  particular  the  laws  of  the  country, 
and  never  to  tolerate  their  violation  by  others.  As  the  pa- 
triots of  '76  died  to  support  the  Declaration  of  Independence, 
so  to  the  support  of  the  Constitution  and  the  laws  let  every 
American  pledge  his  life,  his  property,  and  his  sacred  honor;  — 
let  every  man  remember  that  to  violate  the  law  is  to  trample 
in  the  blood  of  his  father  and  to  tear  the  charter  of  his  own 
and  his  children's  liberty.  Let  reverence  for  the  laws  be 
breathed  by  every  American  mother  to  the  lisping  babes  that 
prattle  on  her  lap;  let  it  be  taught  in  schools,  in  seminaries, 
and  in  colleges;  let  it  be  written  in  primers,  spelling  books, 
and  in  almanacs;  let  it  be  preached  from  the  pulpits,  pro- 
claimed in  legislative  halls,  and  enforced  in  courts  of  justice. 
And  in  short,  let  it  become  the  political  religion  of  the  nation, 
and  let  the  old  and  the  young,  the  rich  and  the  poor,  the  grave 
and  the  gay  of  all  sexes  and  tongues  and  colors  and  conditions, 
sacrifice  unceasingly  upon  its  altars."  ^  This  imposes  on  the 
State  the  duty  of  avoiding  unjust  and  unrighteous  laws." 

An  educated  people   is   one   of   America's  dearest   ideals.    ^-  Universal 

Education 

"If  a  people  expects  to  be  ignorant  and  free  in  a  state  of 
civilization  it  expects  what  never  was,  and  never  can  be," 
says  Jefferson.  Jefferson  was  the  founder  of  the  University 
of  Virginia  and  he  sought  for  the  American  democracy  which 
he  did  so  much  to  establish  an  education  as  universal  as  the 
liberty  which  he  held  to  be  the  heritage  of  all  men.  He 
wished  education  and  discussion  to  be  free  and  information 
to  be  widely  diffused.  He  thought  a  good  newspaper  was 
better  than  a  standing  army  as  a   defense   to   the  republic. 

1  Abraham  Lincoln,  Address,  1837,  before  the  Young  Men's  Lyceum 
of  Springfield,  Illinois. 

2  The  student  will  reflect  on  the  right  of  men  to  resist  unrighteous  laws. 
"We  should  obey  God  rather  than  man."  "Resistance  to  tyrants  is 
obedience  to  God."  Should  our  fathers  have  obeyed  the  Stamp  Act  or 
the  Fugitive  Slave  Law? 


394  THE   CITIZEN  AND  THE   REPUBLIC 

This  universal  education  is  for  the  purpose  of  making  more 
efficient  citizens  for  a  free  state.  All  American  communities 
gladly  tax  themselves  for  education.  This  is  an  ideal  of  the 
common  people,  as  all  parents  desire  an  education  for  their 
children  better  than  they  had  for  themselves  and  they  wish 
a  social  state  in  which  the  good  and  the  competent  may  the 
better  make  their  way  up  and  the  ignorant  and  foolish  will 
inevitably  drop  down.^  Popular  government  must  carry  with 
it  popular  education. 

Jefferson  in  his  Inaugural  Address  held  up  other  ideals 
for  American  democracy: 

(i)  Peace  and  honest  friendship  with  all  nations,  entangling 
alliances  with  none. 

"  A  concert  of  powers  for  the  sake  of  world-peace  would 
not  be  an  'entangling  alliance.'  All  would  unite  to  act  in 
the  common  interest  and  all  be  free  to  live  their  own  lives 
under  a  common  protection."  - 

(2)  Local  self-government  in  all  domestic  concerns. 

(3)  Free  and  fair  elections  by  the  people. 

This  is  the  safest  way  to  correct  abuses.  Government  abuses 
will  be  "lopped  off  by  the  sword  of  revolution  if  peaceable 
means  are  unprovided." 

(4)  The  supremacy  of  the  civil  over  the  military  authority. 
That  is,  the  people  must  control  the  army  and  not  the  army 
the  people.  No  large  standing  army  but  a  well-disciplined 
militia,  —  our  best  reliance  in  peace  and  for  the  first  moments 
of  war.  It  is  now  believed  that  this  militia  should  be  national- 
ized and  be  brought  under  the  control  of  the  national  govern- 
ment and  not  be  left  to  forty-eight  different  State  systems. 

(5)  Honest  payment  of  our  debts  and  the  sacred  preser- 
vation of  the  public  faith. 

"These  principles  form  the  bright  constellation  which  has 
gone  before  us  and  guided  our  steps  through  an  age  of  revo- 

1  President  Eliot,  New  York  Times,  July  27,  igi6. 

2  President  Wilson,  Jan.  22,  1917. 


AMERICAN    IDEALS    IN   GOVERNMENT 


395 


lution  and  reformation.  The  wisdom  of  our  sages  and  blood 
of  our  heroes  have  been  devoted  to  their  attainment;  they 
should  be  the  creed  of  our  political  faith,  the  text  of  civic 
instruction,  the  touchstone  by  which  to  try  the  services  of  those 
we  trust;  and  should  we  wander  from  them  in  moments  of 
error  or  of  alarm,  let  us  hasten  to  retrace  our  steps  and  to 
regain  the  road  which  alone  leads  to  peace,  liberty,  and  safety."  ^ 

After  independence  and  confederation,  the  Constitution  was 
made  "to  form  a  more  perfect  union,"  Liberty  and  union 
were  developed  in  America  through  trial  and  tribulation. 
They  were  ideals  long  before  they  were  facts.  A  united 
nation  was  reached  only  "by  the  discipUne  of  our  virtues  in 
the  severe  school  of  adversity."  The  nation  hung  over  the 
precipice  of  disunion  in  civil  war.  But  that  great  war  decided 
that  the  ideal  should  be  realized,  "Uberty  and  union,"  under 
one  nation,  one  government,  one  flag. 

Lincoln  desired  that  his  Nation  might  bear  its  part  among 
nations  in  promoting  democracy,  liberty,  justice,  and  right- 
eous peace  throughout  the  world,  —  the  final  ideal  of  the 
Citizen  and  the  Republic.  We  should  recall  his  noble  ideal 
when  he  spoke  for  the  peace  of  righteousness  in  his  last  in- 
augural address: 

"With  malice,  toward  none;  with  charity  for  all;  with 
firmness  in  the  right  as  God  gives  us  to  see  the  right,  let  us 
strive  on  to  finish  the  work  we  are  in;  to  bind  up  the  nation's 
wounds;  to  care  for  him  who  shall  have  borne  the  battle,  and 
for  his  widow  and  his  orphan,  and  to  do  all  which  may  achieve 
and  cherish  a  just  and  lasting  peace  among  ourselves  and  with 
all  nations."  ^ 


Vn.  Union  and 
Nationality 


Vm.  The  Ideal 
of  World 
Peace 


"It  may  be  permitted  to  us  to  be  glad  that  we  have  an    America's Pur- 

,        •■        ,         1  1  ...  1  .   ,  ,  pose  in  the 

opportunity  to  show  the  principles  which  we  profess  to  be    worid  War 
living  —  principles  which  live  in  our  hearts  —  and  to  have  a 

1  Jefferson's  First  Inaugural  Address. 

2  Lincoln's  Second  Inaugural  Address, 


396  THE  CITIZEN   AND  THE   REPUBLIC 

chance  by  the  pouring  out  of  our  blood  and  treasure  to  vindi- 
cate the  things  which  we  have  professed.  For  the  real  fruition 
of  life  is  to  do  the  things  we  have  said  we  wished  to  do.  There 
are  times  when  words  seem  empty  and  only  action  seems 
great.  Such  a  time  has  come,  and  in  the  providence  of  God 
America  will  once  more  have  an  opportunity  to  show  to  the 
world  that  she  was  born  to  serve  mankind."  ^ 

Such  are  the  ideals  of  the  Citizen  and  the  Republic! 

TOPICS   AND    QUERIES 

1.  How  do  ideals  influence  a  nation's  life? 

2.  In  what  sense  are  all  men  "created  equal"? 

3.  Does  the  Government  of  the  home  or  the  school  "derive  its  just 

powers  from  the  consent  of  the  governed"? 

4.  What  is  involved  in  civil  liberty? 

5.  In  what  kind  of  religious  freedom  did  the  early  colonists  in  America 

believe? 

6.  Name  some  influences  in  American  history  that  have  promoted 

union  and  nationality. 

7.  Repeat  from  memory  Lincoln's  Gettysburg  address. 

8.  Recite  seven  distinct  ideals  shown  in  the  life  and  government  of  the 

American  people. 

REFERENCES 

Abbott,  Lyman.      The  Rights  of  Man,  Chap.  HI. 

Adams,  E.  D.     Ideals  in  American   History. 

Fiske,  John.     American  Political  Ideas. 

Merriam,  C.  E.     American  Political  Theories. 

Roosevelt,  Theodore.     American  Ideals. 

Tufts,  James  H.,  Our  Democracy. 

Woodburn,  J.  A.      The  American  Republic  and  its  Government,  Chap.  I. 

1  President  Wilson,  Memorial  Day  Address,  May  30,  1917. 


HOW  TO  OBTAIN  INFORMATION 

In  studying  "Present  Day  Problems  in  Democracy"  and 
other  topics  suggested  in  this  volume  the  student  should  seek 
the  aid  of  his  pubUc  library.  He  should  be  able  to  find  there 
the  standard  current  periodicals,  —  The  Outlook,  The  Inde- 
pendent, The  Literary  Digest,  The  Review  of  Reviews,  Collier's, 
North  American  Review,  The  Yale  Review,  Atlantic  Monthly, 
The  Survey,  Current  Literature,  and  others.  These  will  inform 
him  on  current  topics.  The  library  should  also  have  ar 
Index  to  Periodical  Literature  which  will  direct  the  student 
to  the  magazines  in  which  articles  may  be  found  on  given 
topics.  The  student  should  be  shown  how  to  use  this  Index. 
The  "American  Year  Book"  and  the  "  Business  Digest"  will 
give  brief  compact  information  on  all  kinds  of  current  civic 
events  and  problems.  Many  of  the  larger  libraries  have  small 
"TraveUng  Libraries"  which  they  are  willing  to  send  out  to 
responsible  high  schools,  or  clubs,  upon  request.  The  Exten- 
sion Departments  of  the  Universities  are  also  ready,  in  many 
States,  to  send  books  and  references  on  various  topics  to 
inquirers.  The  following  organizations  are  ready  to  furnish 
information  along  the  Hnes  in  which  they  are  especially 
interested: 

American  Association  for  Labor  Legislation,  131  East  23d  St.,  New  York 

City. 
The  American  City,  93  Nassau  St.,  New  York  City. 
American  Civic  Association,  913  Union  Trust  Building,  Washington,  D.  C. 
American  Federation  of  Labor,  801-809  G  St.,  N.  W.,  Washington,  D.  C. 
American  Highway  Association,  Colorado  Building,  Washington,  D.  C. 
American  Home  Economics  Association,  Station  N.,  Baltimore,  Md. 
American  National  Red  Cross,  1624  H  St.,  Washington,  D.  C. 
American  Peace  Society,  31  Beacon  St.,  Boston,  Mass. 

397 


398  THE   CITIZEN   AND  THE   REPUBLIC 

American  Prison  Associadon,  Secretary  Commissioner  of  Charities  and 
Corrections,  Trenton,  N.  J. 

American  Public  Health  Association,  755  Boylston  St.,  Boston,  Mass. 

National  American  Woman  Suffrage  Association,  505  Fifth  Ave.,  New 
York  City. 

National  Association  Opposed  to  Woman  Suffrage,  37  W.  39th  St.,  New 
York  City. 

National  Civil  Service  Reform  League,  79  Wall  St.,  New  York  City. 

National  Conference  of  Charities  and  Correction,  315  Plymouth  Court, 
Chicago,  111. 

National  Conference  on  City  Planning,  19  Congress  St.,  Boston,  Mass. 

National  Conservation  Congress,  Riggs  Building,  Washington,  D.  C. 

National  Educational  Association,  J.  W.  Crabtree,  Thomas  Circle, 
Washington,  D.  C. 

National  Housing  Association,  105  East  22d  St.,  New  York  City. 

National  Municipal  League,  North  American  Building,  Philadelphia,  Pa. 

National  Security  League,  19  West  44th  St.,  New  York  City. 

National  Short  Ballot  Organization,  383  Fourth  Ave.,  New  York  City. 

National  Tax  Association,  15  Dey  St.,  New  York  City. 

Pan-American  Union,  Washington,  D.  C. 

Playgrounds  Association  of  America,  i  Madison  Ave.,  New  York  City. 

Proportional  Representation  League,  Secretary,  Haverford,  Pa. 

Single  Tax  Association,  150  Nassau  St.,  New  York  City. 

The  National  Voters'  League,  Woodward  Building,  Washington,  D.  C. 

The  National  Popular  Government  League,  Munsey  Building,  Wash- 
ington, D.  C. 

The  Congressional  Record  may  be  obtained  for  the  high 
school  library  by  writing  to  one  of  the  United  States  senators 
or  the  member  of  Congress  for  the  district.  The  Record 
contains  the  speeches  and  discussions  in  Congress.  It  is 
pubHshed  daily  while  Congress  is  in  session. 


APPENDIX 


ARTICLES  OF  CONFEDERATION    (1781). 

[The  following  is  the  official  engrossed  text  as  printed  in  American 
History  Leaflets,  No.  20,  from  the  original  parchment  rolls.] 

0^0  all  to  TKHbont  these  Presents  shall  come,  we  the  under 
signed  Delegates  of  the  States  affixed  to  our  Names  send  greet- 
ing. Whereas  the  Delegates  of  the  United  States  of  America  in 
Congress  assembled  did  on  the  fifteenth  day  of  November  in  the 
Year  of  Our  Lord  One  thousand  seven  Hundred  and  Seventy 
seven,  and  in  the  second  Year  of  the  Independence  of  America 
agree  to  certain  articles  of  Confederation  and  perpetual  Union 
between  the  States  of  Newhampshire,  Massachusetts-bay,  Rhode- 
island  and  Providence  Plantations,  Connecticut,  New  York,  New 
Jersey,  Pennsylvania,  Delaware,  Maryland,  Virginia,  North-Caro- 
lina, South-Carolina,  and  Georgia  in  the  Words  following,  viz. 
"Articles  of  Confederation  and  perpetual  Union  between 
the  States  of  Newhampshire.  Massachusetts-bay,  Rhodeisland 
and  Providence  Plantations,  Connecticut,  New- York,  New-Jersey, 
Pennsylvania,  Delaware,  Maryland,  Virginia,  North-Carolina, 
South-Carolina  and  Georgia. 

Article  I.  The  Stile  of  this  confederacy  shall  be  "The 
United  States  of  America." 

Article  II.  Each  state  retains  its  sovereignty,  freedom  and 
independence,  and  every  Power,  Jurisdiction  and  right,  which  is 
not  by  this  confederation  expressly  delegated  to  the  United  States, 
in  Congress  assembled. 

Article  III.  The  said  states  hereby  severally  enter  into  a 
firm  league  of  friendship  with  each  other,  for  their  common  de- 
fence, the  security  of  their  Liberties,  and  their  mutual  and  general 
welfare,  binding  themselves  to  assist  each  other,  against  all  force 
offered  to,  or  attacks  made  upon  them,  or  any  of  them,  on  account 
of  religion,  sovereignty,  trade,  or  any  other  pretence  whatever. 


X  APPENDIX  OF  DOCUMENTS 

Article  IV.  The  better  to  secure  and  jierpetuate  mutual 
friendship  and  intercourse  among  tlie  people  of  the  different  states 
in  this  union,  the  free  inhabitants  of  each  of  these  states,  paupers, 
vagabonds,  and  fugitives  from  Justice  excepted,  shall  be  entitled 
to  all  privileges  and  immunities  of  free  citizens  in  the  several 
states;  and  the  people  of  each  state  shall  have  free  ingress  and 
regress  to  and  from  any  other  state,  and  shall  enjoy  therein  all  the 
privileges  of  trade  and  commerce,  subject  to  the  same  duties,  im- 
positions and  restrictions  as  the  inhabitants  thereof  respectively, 
provided  that  such  restriction  shall  not  extend  so  far  as  to  prevent 
the  removal  of  property  imported  into  any  state,  to  any  other  state 
of  which  the  Owner  is  an  inhabitant  ;  provided  also  that  no  im- 
position, duties  or  restriction  shall  be  laid  by  any  state,  on  the 
property  of  the  united  states,  or  either  of  them. 

If  any  Person  be  guilty  of,  or  charged  with  treason,  felony,  or 
other  high  misdemeanor  in  .any  state,  shall  flee  from  Justice, 
and  be  found  in  any  of  the  united  states,  he  shall  upon  demand  of 
the  Governor  or  executive  power,  of  the  state  from  which  he  fled, 
be  delivered  up  and  removed  to  the  state  having  jurisdiction  of  his 
offence. 

Full  faith  and  credit  shall  be  given  in  each  of  these  states  to 
the  records,  acts  and  judicial  proceedings  of  the  courts  and  mag- 
istrates of  every  other  state. 

Article  V.  For  the  more  convenient  management  of  the  gen- 
eral interest  of  the  united  states,  delegates  shall  be  annually  ap- 
pointed in  such  manner  as  the  legislature  of  each  state  shall  direct, 
to  meet  in  Congress  on  the  first  Monday  in  November,  in  every 
year,  with  a  power  reserved  to  each  state,  to  recal  its  delegates,  or 
any  of  them,  at  any  time  within  the  year,  and  to  send  others  in  their 
stead,  for  the  remainder  of  the  Year. 

No  state  shall  be  represented  in  Congress  by  less  than  two.  nor 
by  more  than  seven  Members;  and  no  person  shall  be  capable  of 
being  a  delegate  for  more  than  three  years  in  any  term  of  six 
years;  nor  shall  any  person,  being  a  delegate,  be  capable  of  hold- 
ing any  office  under  the  united  states,  for  which  he,  or  another  for 
his  benefit  receives  any  salary,  fees  or  emolument  of  any  kind. 

Each  state  shall  maintain  its  own  delegates  in  a  meeting  of  the 
states,  and  while  they  act  as  members  of  the  committee  of  the 
states. 

In  determining  questions  in  the  united  states,  in  Congress  as- 
sembled, each  state  shall  have  one  vote. 


ARTICLES  OF  CONFEDERATION  XI 

Freedom  of  speech  and  debate  in  congress  shall  not  be  im- 
peached or  questioned  in  any  Court,  or  place  out  of  Congress,  and 
the  members  of  Congress  shall  be  protected  in  their  persons  from 
arrests  and  imprisonments,  during  tlie  time  of  their  going  to  and 
from,  and  attendance  on  congress,  except  for  treason,  felony,  or 
breach  of  the  peace. 

Article  VI.  No  state  without  the  Consent  of  the  united  states 
in  congress  assembled,  shall  send  any  embassy  to,  or  receive  any 
embassy  from,  or  enter  into  any  conference,  agreement,  alliance  or 
treaty  with  any  King  prince  or  state ;  nor  shall  any  person  holding 
any  office  of  profit  or  trust  under  the  united  states,  or  any  of  them, 
accept  of  any  present,  emolument,  office  or  title  of  any  kind  what- 
ever from  any  king,  prince  or  foreign  state ;  nor  shall  the  united 
states  in  congress  assembled,  or  any  of  them,  grant  any  title  of 
nobility. 

No  two  or  more  states  shall  enter  into  any  treaty,  confederation 
or  alliance  whatever  between  them,  without  the  consent  of  the  united 
states  in  congress  assembled,  specifying  accurately  the  purpose  for 
which  the  same  is  to  be  entered  into,  and  how  long  it  shall  continue. 

No  state  shall  lay  any  imposts  or  duties,  which  may  interfere 
with  any  stipulations  in  treaties,  entered  into  by  the  united  states 
in  congress  assembled,  with  any  king,  prince  or  state,  in  pursuance 
of  any  treaties  already  proposed  by  congress,  to  the  courts  of 
France  and  Spain. 

No  vessels  of  war  shall  be  kept  up  in  time  of  peace  by  any  state, 
except  such  number  only,  as  shall  be  deemed  necessary  by  the 
united  states  in  congress  assembled,  for  the  defence  of  such  state, 
or  its  trade  ;  nor  shall  any  body  of  forces  be  kept  up  by  any  state, 
in  time  of  peace,  except  such  number  only,  as  in  the  judgment  of 
the  united  states,  in  congress  assembled,  shall  be  deemed  requisite 
to  garrison  the  forts  necessary  for  the  defence  of  sucn  state ;  but 
everf  state  shall  always  keep  up  a  well  regulated  and  disciplined 
militia,  sufficiently  armed  and  accoutred,  and  shall  provide  and 
constantly  have  ready  for  use,  in  public  stores,  a  due  number  of 
field  pieces  and  tents,  and  a  proper  quantity  of  arms,  ammunition 
and  camp  equipage. 

No  state  shall  engage  in  any  war  without  the  consent  of  the 
united  states  in  congress  assembled,  unless  such  state  be  actually 
invaded  by  enemies,  or  shall  have  received  certain  advice  of  a 
resolution  being  formed  by  some  nation  of  Indians  to  invade  such 
state,  and  tlie  danger  is  so  imminent  as  not  to  admit  of  a  delay, 
till  the  united  states  in  congress  assembled  can  be  consulted  :  nor 


xli  APPENDIX  OF  DOCUMENTS 

shall  any  state  grant  commissions  to  any  ships  or  vessels  of  war, 
nor  letters  of  marque  or  reprisal,  except  it  be  after  a  declaration  of 
war  by  the  united  states  in  congress  assembled,  and  then  only 
against  the  kingdom  or  state  and  the  subjects  thereof,  against 
which  war  has  been  so  declared,  and  under  such  regulations  as 
shall  be  established  by  the  united  states  in  congress  assembled, 
unless  such  state  be  infested  by  pirates,  in  which  case  vessels  of 
war  may  be  fitted  out  for  that  occasion,  and  kept  so  long  as  the 
danger  shall  continue,  or  until  the  united  states  in  congress  as- 
sembled shall  determine  otherwise. 

Article  VII.  When  land-forces  are  raised  by  any  state  for 
the  common  defence,  all  officers  of  or  under  the  rank  of  colonel, 
shall  be  appointed  by  the  legislature  of  each  state  respectively  by 
whom  sucla  forces  shall  be  raised,  or  in  such  manner  as  such  state 
shall  direct,  and  all  vacancies  shall  be  filled  up  by  the  state  which 
first  made  the  appointment. 

Article  VIII.  All  charges  of  war,  and  all  other  expences 
that  shall  be  incurred  for  the  common  defence  or  general  welfare, 
and  allowed  by  the  united  states  in  congress  assembled,  shall  be 
defrayed  out  of  a  common  treasury,  which  shall  be  supplied  by  the 
several  states,  in  proportion  to  the  value  of  all  land  within  each 
state,  granted  to  or  surveyed  for  any  Person,  as  such  land  and  the 
buildings  and  improvements  thereon  shall  be  estimated  according 
to  such  mode  as  the  united  states  in  congress  assembled,  shall  from 
time  to  time,  direct  and  appoint.  The  taxes  for  paying  that  pro- 
portion shall  be  laid  and  levied  by  the  authority  and  direction  of  the 
legislatures  of  the  several  states  within  the  time  agreed  upon  by  the 
united  states  in  congress  assembled. 

Article  IX.  The  united  states  in  congress  assembled,  shall 
have  the  sole  and  exclusive  right  and  power  of  determining  on  peace 
and  war,  except  in  the  cases  mentioned  in  the  sixth  article  —  of 
sending  and  receiving  ambassadors  —  entering  into  treaties  and 
alliances,  provided  that  no  treaty  of  commerce  shall  be  made 
whereby  the  legislative  power  of  the  respective  states  shall  be  re- 
strained from  imposing  such  imposts  and  duties  on  foreigners,  as 
their  own  people  are  subjected  to,  or  from  prohibiting  the  exportation 
or  importation  of  any  species  of  goods  or  commodities  whatsoever 
—  of  establishing  rules  for  deciding  in  all  cases,  what  captures  on 
land  or  water  shall  be  legal,  and  in  what  manner  prizes  taken  by 
land  or  naval  forces  in  the  service  of  the  united  states  shall  be  di- 


ARTICLES  OF  CONFEDERATION  xiii 

vided  or  appropriated  —  of  granting  letters  of  marque  and  reprisal 
in  times  of  peace  —  appointing  courts  for  the  trial  of  piracies  and 
felonies  committed  on  the  high  seas  and  establishing  courts  for  re- 
ceiving and  determining  finally  appeals  in  all  cases  of  captures,  pro- 
vided that  no  member  of  congress  shall  be  appointed  a  judge  of  any 
of  the  said  courts. 

The  united  states  in  congress  assembled  shall  also  be  the  last 
resort  on  appeal  in  all  disputes  and  differences  now  subsisting  or 
that  hereafter  may  arise  between  two  or  more  states  concerning 
boundary,  jurisdiction  or  any  other  cause  whatever;  which  author- 
ity shall  always  be  exercised  in  the  manner  following.  Whenever 
the  legislative  or  executive  authority  or  lawful  agent  of  any  state  in 
controversy  with  another  shall  present  a  petition  to  congress,  stat- 
ing the  matter  in  question  and  praying  for  a  hearing,  notice  thereof 
shall  be  given  by  order  of  congress  to  the  legislative  or  executive 
authority  of  the  other  state  in  controversy,  and  a  day  assigned  for 
the  appearance  of  the  parties  by  their  lawful  agents,  wlio  shall  then 
be  directed  to  appoint  by  joint  consent,  commissioners  or  judges  to 
constitute  a  court  for  hearing  and  determining  the  matter  in  ques- 
tion :  but  if  they  cannot  agree,  congress  shall  name  three  persons 
out  of  each  of  the  united  states,  and  from  the  list  of  such  persons 
each  party  shall  alternately  strike  out  one,  the  petitioners  begin- 
ning, until  the  number  shall  be  reduced  to  thirteen  ;  and  from  that 
number  not  less  than  seven,  nor  more  than  nine  names  as  congress 
shall  direct,  shall  in  the  presence  of  congress  be  drawn  out  by  lot, 
and  the  persons  whose  names  shall  be  so  drawn  or  any  five  of  them, 
shall  be  commissioners  or  judges,  to  hear  and  finally  determine  the 
controversy,  so  always  as  a  major  part  of  the  judges  who  shall  hear 
the  cause  shall  agree  in  the  determination  :  and  if  either  party  shall 
neglect  to  attend  at  the  day  appointed,  without  shewing  reasons, 
which  congress  shall  judge  sufficient,  or  being  present  shall  refuse 
to  strike,  the  congress  shall  proceed  to  nominate  three  persons  out 
of  each  state,  and  the  secretary  of  congress  shall  strike  in  behalf  of 
such  party  absent  or  refusing ;  and  the  judgment  and  sentence  of 
the  court  to  be  appointed,  in  the  manner  before  prescribed,  shall 
be  final  and  conclusive  ;  and  if  any  of  the  parties  shall  refuse  to 
submit  to  the  authority  of  such  court,  or  to  appear  or  defend  their 
claim  or  cause,  the  court  shall  nevertheless  proceed  to  pronounce 
sentence,  or  judgment,  which  shall  in  like  manner  be  final  and  deci- 
sive, the  judgment  or  sentence  and  other  proceedings  being  in  either 
case  transmitted  to  congress,  and  lodged  among  the  acts  of  con- 
gress for  the  security  of  the  parties  concerned  :  provided  that  every 
commissioner,  before  he  sits  in  judgment,  shall  take  an  oath  to  be 


XIV  APPENDIX  OF  DOCUMENTS 

administered  by  one  of  the  judges  of  the  supreme  or  superior  court 
of  the  state,  where  the  cause  shall  be  tried,  "  well  and  truly  to  hear 
and  determine  the  matter  in  question,  according  to  ihe  best  of  his 
judgment,  without  favour,  affection  or  hope  of  reward:"  provided 
also  tliat  no  state  shall  be  deprived  of  territory  for  the  benefit  of  the 
united  states. 

All  controversies  concerning  the  private  right  of  soil  claimed 
under  different  grants  of  two  or  more  states,  whose  jurisdictions  as 
they  may  respect  such  lands,  and  the  states  which  passed  such 
grants  are  adjusted,  the  said  grants  or  either  of  them  being  at  the 
same  time  claimed  to  have  originated  antecedent  to  such  settlement 
of  jurisdiction,  shall  on  the  petition  of  either  party  to  the  congress 
of  the  united  states,  be  finally  determined  as  near  asmaybe  in  the 
same  manner  as  is  before  prescribed  for  deciding  disputes  respect- 
ing territorial  jurisdiction  between  different  states. 

The  united  states  in  congress  assembled  shall  also  have  the  sole 
and  exclusive  right  and  power  of  regulating  the  alloy  and  value  of 
coin  struck  by  their  own  authority,  or  by  that  ot  the  respective 
states  —  fixing  the  standard  of  weights  and  measures  throughout 
the  United  States  —  regulating  the  trade  and  manageing  all  affairs 
with  the  Indians,  not  members  of  any  of  the  states,  provided  that 
the  legislative  right  of  any  state  within  its  own  limits  be  not  in- 
fringed or  violated  —  establishing  and  regulating  po.st-ofiices  from 
one  state  to  another,  throughout  all  the  united  states,  and  exacting 
such  postage  on  the  papers  passing  thro'  the  same  as  may  be  requi- 
site to  defray  the  expences  of  the  said  office  —  appointing  all  officers 
of  the  land  forces,  in  the  service  of  the  united  states,  excepting  regi- 
mental officers  —  appointing  all  the  officers  of  tlie  naval  forces,  and 
commissioning  all  officers  whatever  in  the  service  of  the  united 
states  — makmg  rules  for  the  government  and  regulation  of  the  said 
land  and  naval  forces,  and  directing  their  operations. 

The  united  states  in  congress  assembled  shall  have  authority  to 
appoint  a  committee,  to  sit  in  the  recess  of  congress,  to  be  denom- 
inated "A  Committee  of  the  States,"  and  to  consist  of  one  delegate 
from  each  state  ;  and  to  appoint  such  otlier  committees  and  civil 
officers  as  may  be  necessary  for  manageing  the  general  affairs 
of  the  united  states  under  their  direction  —  to  appoint  one  of  their 
number  to  preside,  provided  that  no  person  be  allowed  to  serve  in 
the  office  of  president  more  than  one  year  in  any  term  of  three 
years  ;  to  ascertain  the  necessary  sums  of  Money  to  be  raised  for 
the  service  of  the  united  states,  and  to  appropriate  and  apply  the 
same  for  defraying  the  public  expences  —  to  borrow  money,  or  emit 
bills  on  the  credit  of  the  united  states,  transmitting  every  half  year 


ARTICLES  OF  CONFEDERATION  xv 

to  the  respective  states  an  account  of  the  sums  of  money  so  bor- 
rowed or  emitted,  —to  build  and  equip  a  navy—  to  agree  ujwn  the 
number  of  land  forces,  and  to  make  requisitions  from  each  state  for 
its  quota,  in  proportion  to  the  number  of  white  inhabitants  in  such 
state;  which  requisition  shall  be  binding,  and  thereupon  the  legis- 
lature of  each  state  shall  appoint  the  regimental  officers,  raise  the 
men  and  cloath,  arm  and  equip  them  in  a  soldier  like  manner,  at  the 
expence  of  the  united  states;  and  the  officers  and  men  so  cloathed, 
armed  and  equipped  shall  marcli  to  the  place  appointed,  and  within 
the  time  agreed  on  by  the  united  states  in  congress  assembled  :  But 
if  the  united  states  in  congress  assembled  shall,  on  consideration  of 
circumstances  judge  proper  that  any  state  should  not  raise  men,  or 
should  raise  a  smaller  number  than  its  quota,  and  that  any  other 
state  should  raise  a  greater  number  of  men  than  the  quota  thereof, 
such  extra  number  shall  be  raised,  officered,  cloathed,  armed  and 
equipped  in  the  same  manner  as  the  quota  of  such  state,  unless  the 
legislature  of  such  state  shall  judge  that  such  extra  number  cannot 
be  safely  spared  out  of  the  same,  in  which  case  they  shall  raise 
officer,  cloath,  arm  and  equip  as  many  of  such  extra  number  as  tiiey 
judge  can  be  safely  spared.  And  the  officers  and  men  so  cloathed, 
armed  and  equipped,  shall  march  to  the  place  appointed,  and  within 
the  time  agreed  on  by  the  united  states  in  congress  assembled. 

The  united  states  in  congress  assembled  shall  never  engage  in  a 
war,  nor  grant  letters  of  marque  and  reprisal  in  time  of  peace,  nor 
enter  into  any  treaties  or  alliances,  nor  coin  money,  nor  regulate 
the  value  thereof,  nor  ascertain  the  sums  and  expences  necessary 
.  for  the  defence  and  welfare  of  the  united  states,  or  any  of  them,  nor 
emit  bills,  nor  borrow  money  on  the  credit  of  the  united  states,  nor 
appropriate  money,  nor  agree  upon  the  number  of  vessels  of  war, 
to  be  built  or  purchased,  or  the  number  of  land  or  sea  forces  to  be 
raised,  nor  appoint  a  commander  in  chief  of  the  army  or  navy,  un- 
less nine  states  assent  to  the  same  :  nor  shall  a  question  on  any 
other  point,  except  for  adjourning  from  day  to  day  be  determined, 
unless  by  the  votes  of  a  majority  of  the  united  states  in  congress 
assembled. 

The  congress  of  the  united  states  shall  have  power  to  adjourn  to 
any  time  within  the  year,  and  to  any  place  within  the  united  states, 
so  that  no  period  of  adjournment  be  for  a  longer  duration  than  the 
space  of  six  months,  and  shall  publish  the  Journal  of  their  proceed- 
ings monthly,  except  such  parts  thereof  relating  to  treaties,  alliances 
or  military  operations,  as  in  their  judgment  require  secrecy;  and 
the  yeas  and  nays  of  the  delegates  of  each  state  on  any  question 
shall  be  entered  on  the  Journal,  when  it  is  desired  by  any  delegate ; 


xvi  APPENDIX  OF  DOCUMENTS 

and  the  delegates  of  a  state,  or  any  of  them,  at  his  or  their  request 
siiall  be  furnished  with  a  transcript  of  the  said  Journal,  except  such 
parts  as  are  above  excepted,  to  lay  before  the  legislatures  of  the 
several  states. 

Article  X.  The  committee  of  the  states,  or  any  nine  of  them, 
shall  be  authorized  to  execute,  in  the  recess  of  congress,  such  of  the 
powers  of  congress  as  the  united  states  in  congress  assembled,  by 
the  consent  of  nine  states,  shall  from  time  to  time  think  expedient 
to  vest  them  with  ;  provided  that  no  power  be  delegated  to  the  said 
committee,  for  the  exercise  of  which,  by  the  articles  of  confedera- 
tion, the  voice  of  nine  states  -n  the  congress  of  tiie  united  states 
assembled  is  requisite. 

Article  XI.  Canada  acceding  to  this  confederation,  and  join- 
ing in  the  measures  of  the  united  states,  shall  be  admitted  into,  and 
entitled  to  all  the  advantages  of  this  union :  but  no  other  colony 
shall  be  admitted  into  the  same,  unless  such  admission  be  agreed 
to  by  nine  states. 

Article  XII.  All  bills  of  credit  emitted,  monies  borrowed 
and  debts  contracted  by,  or  under  the  authority  of  congress,  before 
the  assembling  of  the  united  states,  in  pursuance  of  the  present 
confederation,  shall  be  deemed  and  considered  as  a  charge  against 
the  united  states,  for  payment  and  satisfaction  whereof  the  said 
united  states,  and  the  public  faith  are  hereby  solemnly  pledged. 

Article  XIII.  Every  state  shall  abide  by  the  determinations 
of  the  united  states  in  congress  assembled,  on  all  questions  which 
by  this  confederation  are  submitted  to  them.  And  the  Articles  of 
this  confederation  shall  be  inviolably  observed  by  every  state,  and 
the  union  shall  be  perpetual;  nor  shall  any  alteration  at  any  time 
hereafter  be  made  in  any  of  them  ;  unless  such  alteration  be  agreed 
to  in  a  congress  of  the  united  states,  and  be  afterwards  confirmed 
by  the  legislatures  of  every  state. 

BnD  IKIlbereas  it   hath   pleased  the   Great   Governor  of  the 

World  to  incline  the  hearts  of  the  legislatures  we  respectively  rep- 
resent in  congress,  to  approve  of,  and  to  authorize  us  to  ratify  the 
said  articles  of  confederation  and  perpetual  union.  l?n0W  ^C  that 
we  the  undersigned  delegates,  by  virtue  of  the  power  and  authority 
to  us  given  for  that  purpose,  do  by  these  presents,  in  the  name  and 
in  behalf  of  our  respective  constituents,  fully  and  entirely  ratify 


ARTICLES  OF  CONFEDERATION  xvii 

and  confirm  each  and  every  of  the  said  articles  of  confederation 
and  perpetual  union,  and  all  and  singular  the  matters  and  things 
therein  contained  :  And  we  do  further  solemnly  plight  and  engage 
the  faith  of  our  respective  constituents,  that  they  shall  abide  by  the 
determinations  of  the  united  states  in  congress  assembled,  on  all 
questions,  which  by  the  said  confederation  are  submitted  to  them. 
And  that  the  articles  thereof  shall  be  inviolably  observed  by  the 
states  we  respectively  represent,  and  that  the  union  shall  be  per- 
petual. In  witness  whereof  we  have  hereunto  set  our  hands  in 
Congress.  Done  at  Philadelphia  in  the  state  of  Pennsylvania  the 
ninth  Day  of  July  in  the  Year  of  our  Lord  one  Thousand  seven 
Hundred  and  Seventy  eight,  and  in  the  third  year  of  the  independ- 
ence of  America. 

[Signatures.] 


CONSTITUTION   OF   THE   UNITED    STATES 
OF   AMERICA*   (1789)  f- 

[The  following  text  of  the  Federal  Constitution,  including  the  Amend- 
ments thereto,  is  reprinted  with  the  accompanying  note  from  American 
History  Leaflets,  No.  8,  in  preparing  which  the  original  parchment  rolls 
were  compared.] 

We  the  People  of  the  United  States,  in  Order  to  form  a  more 
perfect  Union,  establish  Justice,  insi^re  domestic  Trppq"ili^- 
prnvide  for  \\^^  r-nmmon  Hefeni^e.  promote  the  general  Welfare, 
and  secure  the  Blessings  of  Liberty  to  ourselves  and  our  Pos- 
terity, do  ordain  and  establish  this  Constitution  for  the  United 
States  of  America.    . 

ARTICLE.    L 

Section,  i.  All  legislative  Powers  herein  granted  shall  be 
vested  in  a  Congress  of  the  United  States,  which  shall  consist  of  a 
Senate  and  House  of  Representatives. 

Section.  2.  [§  i.]  The  House  of  Representatives  shall  be 
composed  of  Members  chosen  every  second  Year  by  the  People  of 
the  several  States,  and  the  Electors  in  each  State  shall  have  the 
Qualifications  requisite  for  Electors  of  the  most  numerous  Branch 
of  the  State  Legislature.  J 

[§  2.]  No  Person  shall  be  a  Representative  who  shall  not  have 
attained  to  the  Age  of  twenty  five  Years,  and  been  seven  Years  a 
Citizen  of  the  United  States,  and  who  shall  not,  when  elected,  be 
an  Inhabitant  of  that  State  in  which  he  shall  be  chosen. 

[§  3.]  Representatives  and  direct  Ta.xes  shall  be  apportioned 
among  the  several  States  which  maybe  included  within  this  Union, 
according  to  their  respective  Numbers,  [which  shall  be  determined 

*  There  is  no  title  in  the  original  manuscript. 

t  The  ninth  state  ratified  June,  21,  1788.     The  government  provided 
for  went  into  operation  March  4,  1789. 
X  Modified  by  Fourteenth  Amendment. 

xviii 


THE  CONSTITUTION  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES     xix 

by  adding  to  the  whole  Number  of  free  Persons,]  including  those 
bound  to  Service  for  a  Term  of  Years,  and  excluding  Indians  not 
taxed,  [three  fifths  of  all  other  Personsj.*  The  actual  Enumera- 
tion shall  be  made  within  three  Years  after  the  first  Meeting  of  the 
Congress  of  the  United  States,  and  within  every  subsequent  Term 
of  ten  Years,  in  such  Manner  as  they  shall  by  Law  direct.  The 
Number  of  Representatives  shall  not  exceed  one  for  every  thirty 
Thousand,  but  each  State  shall  have  at  Least  one  Representative; 
[and  until  such  enumeration  shall  be  made,  the  State  of  New 
Hampshire  shall  be  entitled  to  chuse  three,  Massachusetts  eight, 
Rhode-Island  and  Providence  Plantations  one,  Connecticut  five, 
New- York  six,  New  Jersey  four,  Pennsylvania  eight,  Delaware 
one,  Maryland  six,  Virginia  ten.  North  Carolina  five,  South 
Carolina  five,  and  Georgia  three.]  t 

[§  4.]  When  vacancies  happen  in  the  Representation  from  any 
State,  the  Executive  Authority  thereof  shall  issue  Writs  of  Election 
to  fill  such  Vacancies, 

[§  5.]  The  House  of  Representatives  shall  chuse  their  Speaker 
and  other  Officers  ;  and  shall  have  the  sole  Power  of  Impeachment. 

Section.  3.  [  §  i-]  The  Senate  of  the  United  States  shall  be 
composed  of  two  Senators  from  each  State,  chosen  by  the  Legisla- 
ture thereof,  for  six  Years;  and  each  Senator  shall  have  one  Vote. 

[§  2.]  Immediately  after  they  shall  be  assembled  in  Consequence 
of  the  first  Election,  they  shall  be  divided  as  equally  as  may  be 
into  three  Classes.  The  Seats  of  the  Senators  of  the  first  Class 
shall  be  vacated  at  the  Expiration  of  the  second  Year,  of  the 
second  Class  at  the  Expiration  of  the  fourth  Year,  and  of  the  third 
Class  at  the  Expiration  of  the  sixth  Year,  so  that  one  third  may  be 
chosen  every  second  Year ;  and  if  Vacancies  happen  by  Resig- 
nation, or  otherwise,  during  the  Recess  of  the  Legislature  of  any 
State,  the  Executive  thereof  may  make  temporary  Appointments 
until  the  next  Meeting  of  the  Legislature,  which  shall  then  fill  such 
Vacancies. 

[§  3-]  No  Person  shall  be  a  Senator  who  shall  not  have  attained 
to  the  Age  of  thirty  Years,  and  been  nine  Years  a  Citizen  of  the 
United  States,  and  who  shall  not,  when  elected,  be  an  Inhabitant 
of  that  State  for  which  he  shall  be  chosen. 

[§4.]  The  Vice  President  of  the  United  States  shall  be  Presi- 
dent of  the  Senate,  but  shall  have  no  Vote,  unless  they  be  equally 
divided. 

*  Superseded  by  Fourteenth  Amendment, 
t  Temporary  clause. 


XX  APPENDIX  OF  DOCUMENTS 

[§  5.]  The  Senate  shall  chuse  their  other  Officers,  and  also  a 
President  pro  tempore,  in  the  Absence  of  the  Vice  President,  or 
when  he  shall  exercise  the  Office  of  President  of  the  United 
States. 

[§  6.]  The  Senate  shall  have  the  sole  Power  to  try  all  Impeach- 
ments. When  sitting  for  that  Purpose,  they  shall  be  on  Oath  or 
Affirmation.  When  the  President  of  the  United  States  is  tried, 
the  Chief  Justice  shall  preside  :  And  no  Person  shall  be  convicied 
without  the  Concurrence  of  two  thirds  of  the  Members  present. 

[§  7.]  Judgment  in  Cases  of  Impeachment  shall  not  extend 
further  than  to  removal  from  Office,  and  disqualification  to  hold 
and  enjoy  any  Office  of  honor,  Trust  or  Profit  under  the  United 
States :  but  the  Party  convicted  shall  nevertheless  be  liable  and 
subject  to  Indictment,  Trial,  Judgment  and  Punishment,  according 
to  Law. 

Section.  4.  [§  i.]  The  Times,  Places  and  Manner  of  holding 
Elections  for  Senators  and  Representatives,  shall  be  prescribed  in 
each  State  by  the  Legislature  thereof;  but  the  Congress  may  at 
any  time  by  Law  make  or  alter  such  Regulations,  except  as  to  the 
Places  of  chusing  Senators. 

[§  2.]  The  Congress  shall  assemble  at  least  once  in  every  Year, 
and  such  Meeting  shall  be  on  the  first  Monday  in  December, 
unless  they  shall  by  Law  appoint  a  different  Day. 

Section.  5.  [§  i.]  Each  House  shall  be  the  Judge  of  the  Elec- 
tions, Returns  and  Qualifications  of  its  own  Members,  and  a 
Majority  of  each  shall  constitute  a  Quorum  to  do  Business  ;  but  a 
smaller  Number  may  adjourn  from  day  to  day,  and  may  be  autho- 
rized to  compel  the  attendance  of  absent  Members,  in  such  Manner, 
and  under  such  Penalties  as  each  House  may  provide. 

[§  2.]  Each  House  may  determine  the  Rules  of  its  Proceedings, 
punish  its  Members  for  Disorderly  Behaviour,  and,  with  the  Con- 
currence of  two  thirds,  expel  a  Member. 

L§  3-]  Each  House  shall  keep  a  Journal  of  its  Proceedings,  and 
from  time  to  time  publish  the  same,  excepting  such  Parts  as  may 
in  their  Judgment  require  Secrecy;  and  the  Yeas  and  Nays  of  the 
Members  of  either  House  on  any  question  shall,  at  the  Desire  of 
one  fifth  of  those  Present,  be  entered  on  the  Journal. 

[§  4.]  Neither  House,  during  the  Session  of  Congress,  shall, 
without  the  Consent  of  the  other,  adjourn  for  more  than  three 
days,  nor  to  any  other  Place  than  that  in  which  the  two  Houses 
shall  be  sitting. 

Section.  6.  [§  i.]  The  Senators  and  Representatives  shall  re- 
ceive a  Compensation  for  their  Services,  to  be  ascertained  by  Law, 


THE  CONSTITUTION  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES     xxi 

and  paid  out  oi  the  Treasury  of  the  United  States.  They  shall  in 
all  Cases,  except  Treason,  Felony  and  Breach  of  the  Peace,  be 
privileged  from  Arrest  during  their  Attendance  at  the  Session  of 
their  respective  Houses,  and  in  going  to  and  returning  from  the 
same  ;  and  for  any  Speech  or  Debate  in  either  House,  they  shall 
not  be  questioned  in  any  other  Place. 

[§  2.]  No  Senator  or  Representative  shall,  during  the  Time  for 
which  he  was  elected,  be  appointed  to  any  civil  Office  under  the 
Authority  of  the  United  States,  which  shall  have  been  created,  or 
the  Emoluments  whereof  shall  have  been  encreased  during  such 
time;  and  no  Person  holding  any  Office  under  the  United  States, 
shall  be  a  Member  of  either  House  during  his  Continuance  in 
Office. 

Section.  7.  [§  i.]  All  Bills  for  raising  Revenue  shall  originate 
in  the  House  of  Representatives  ;  but  the  Senate  may  propose  or 
concur  with  Amendments  as  on  other  Bills. 

[§  2.]  Every  Bill  which  shall  have  passed  the  House  of  Repre- 
sentatives and  the  Senate,  shall,  before  it  become  a  Law,  be  pre- 
sented to  the  President  of  the  United  States:  If  he  approve  he 
shall  sign  it,  but  if  not  he  shall  return  it,  with  his  Objections  to 
that  House  in  which  it  shall  have  originated,  who  shall  enter  the 
Objections  at  large  on  their  Journal,  and  proceed  to  reconsider  it. 
If  after  such  Reconsideration  two  thirds  of  that  House  shall  agree 
to  pass  the  Bill,  it  shall  be  sent,  together  with  the  Objections,  to 
the  other  House,  by  which  it  shall  hkewise  be  reconsidered,  and 
if  approved  by  two  thirds  of  that  House,  it  shall  become  a  Law. 
But  in  all  such  Cases  the  Votes  of  both  Houses  shall  be  determined 
by  yeas  and  Nays,  and  the  Names  of  the  Persons  voting  for  and 
against  the  Bill  shall  be  entered  on  the  Journal  of  each  House 
respectively.  If  any  Bill  shall  not  be  returned  by  the  President 
within  ten  Days  (Sundays  excepted)  after  it  shall  have  been  pre- 
sented to  him,  the  same  shall  be  a  Law,  in  like  Manner  as  if  he  had 
signed  it,  unless  the  Congress  by  their  Adjournment  prevent  its 
Return,  in  which   Case  it  shall  not  be  a  Law. 

[§  3.]  Every  Order,  Resolution,  or  Vote  to  which  the  Concur- 
rence of  the  Senate  and  House  of  Representatives  may  be  neces- 
sary (except  on  a  question  of  Adjournment)  shall  be  presented  to 
the  President  of  the  United  States  ;  and  before  the  same  shall  take 
Effect,  shall  be  approved  by  him,  or  being  disapproved  by  him, 
shall  be  repassed  by  two  thirds  of  the  Senate  and  House  of  Repre- 
sentatives, according  to  the  Rules  and  Limitations  prescribed  in 
the  Case  of  a  Bill. 

Section.  8.    The  Congress  shall  have  Power  [  §1.]   To  lay  and 


xxii  APPENDIX  OF  DOCUMENTS 

f  collect  Taxes,  Duties,  Imposts  and  Excises,  to  pay  the  Debts  and 
provide  for  the  common  Defence  and  general  Welfare  of  the 
United  States  ;  but  all  Duties,  Imposts  and  Excises  shall  be 
uniform  throughout  tlie  United  States  ; 

[§  2.]   To  borrow  Money  on  the  credit  of  the  United  States; 
^     [§  3-]   To  regulate  Commerce  with  foreign  Nations,  and  among 

the  several  States,  and  with  the  Indian  Tribes; 
i^      [§  4  ]   To   establish   an    uniform    Rule    of   l^^tMrpl'Pif^^'O"-  ^"^^ 
uniform    Laws   on    the   subject   of    Bankruptcies    throughout  the 
United  States; 

^  [§  5]   To  coin  Money,  regulate  the  Value  thereof,  and  of  foreign 
Coin,  and  fix  the  Standard  of  Weights  and  Measures  ; 
•  [§  6.]    To  provide  for  the  Punishment  of  counterfeiting  the  Securi- 
ties and  current  coin  of  the  United  States; 
^  [§  7.]   To  establish  Post  Offices  and  post  Roads  ; 

[§  8.]  To  promote  the  Progress  of  Science  and  useful  Arts,  by 
securing  for  limited  Times  to  Authors  and  Inventors  the  exclusive 
Right  to  their  respective  Writings  and  Discoveries ; 

[§  9.]   To  constitute  Tribunals  inferior  to  the  supreme  Court; 
^     [§  10.]     To  define  and  Punish  Piracies  and  Felonies  committed 
on  the  high  Seas,  and  Offences  against  the  Law  of  Nations; 
//  [§  II-]   To  declare  War,  grant  Letters  of  Marque  and  Reprisal, 

and  make  Rules  concerning  Captures  on  Land  and  Water; 
j^    [§  12.]  To  raise  and  support  Armies,  but  no  Appropriation  of 

Money  to  that  Use  shall  be  for  a  longer  Term  than  two  Years ; 
^    [§  13-]    To  provide  and  maintain  a  Navy; 
^  [§  14.]   To  make  Rules  for  the  Government  and  Regulation  of 

the  land  and  naval  Forces  ; 
//*  [§  15.]    To  provide  for  calling  forth  the  Militia  to  execute  the 
Laws  of  the  Union,  suppress  Insurrections  and  repel  Invasions; 

[§  16.]  To  provide  for  organizing,  arming,  and  disciplining,  the 
Militia,  and  for  governing  such  Part  of  them  as  may  be  employed 
in  the  Service  of  the  United  States,  reserving  to  the  States  respec- 
tively, the  Appointment  of  the  Officers,  and  the  Authority  of  train- 
ing tlie  Militia  according  to  the  discipline  prescribed  by  Congress; 
[§  17.]  To  exercise  exclusive  Legislation  in  all  Cases  whatso- 
•  ^  ever,  over  such  District  (not  exceeding  ten  Miles  square)  as  may, 
by  Cession  of  particular  States,  and  the  Acceptance  of  Congress, 
become  the  Seat  of  the  Government  of  the  Unitod  States,  and  to 
exercise  like  Authority  over  all  Places  purchased  by  the  Consent 
of  the  Legislature  of  the  State  in  which  the  same  shall  be,  for  the 
Erection  of  Forts,  Magazines,  Arsenals,  dock-Yards,  and  other 
needful  Buildings;  —  And 


I 


THE  CONSTITUTION  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES     xxiii 

[§  i8.]  To  make  all  Laws  which  shall  be  necessary  and  proper 
for  carrying  into  Execution  the  foregoing  Powers,  and  all  other 
Powers  vested  by  this  Constitution  in  the  Government  of  the 
United  States,  or  in  any  Department  or  Officer  thereof. 

Section  9.  [§  i.]  [The  Migration  or  Importation  of  such  Per- 
sons as  any  of  the  States  now  existing  shall  think  proper  to  admit, 
shall  not  be  prohibited  by  the  Congress  prior  to  the  Year  one 
thousand  eight  hundred  and  eight,  but  a  Tax  or  duty  may  be  im- 
posed on  such  Importation,  not  exceeding  ten  dollars  for  each 
Person.]* 

[§  2.]  The  Privilege  of  the  Writ  of  Habeas  Corpus  shall  not  be 
suspended,  unless  when  in  Cases  of  Rebellion  or  Invasion  the  pub- 
lic Safety  may  require  it. 

[§  3.]    No  Bill  of  Attainder  or  ex  post  facto  Law  shall  be  passed.-)- 

[§  4.]    No  Capitation,  or  other  direct.  Tax  shall  be  laid,  unless 
in  Proportion  to  the  Census  or  Enumeration  herein  before  directed 
to  be  taken. 
^     [§  5-]   No  Tax  or  Duty  shall  be  laid  on  Articles  exported  from 
any  State. 

[§  6.]  No  Preference  shall  be  given  by  any  Regulation  of  Com- 
merce or  Revenue  to  the  Ports  of  one  State  over  those  of  another : 
nor  shall  Vessels  bound  to,  or  from,  one  State,  be  obliged  to  enter, 
clear,  or  pay  Duties  in  another. 

[§  7.]  No  Money  shall  be  drawn  from  the  Treasury,  but  in 
Consequence  of  Appropriations  made  by  Law ;  and  a  regular 
Statement  and  Account  of  the  Receipts  and  Expenditures  of  all 
public  Money  shall  be  published  from  time  to  time. 

[§  8.]  No  Title  of  Nobility  shall  be  granted  by  the  United  States  : 
And  no  Person  holding  any  Office  of  Profit  or  Trust  under  them, 
shall,  without  the  Consent  of  the  Congress,  accept  of  any  present, 
Emolument,  Office,  or  Title,  of  any  kind  whatever,  from  any  King, 
Prince,  or  foreign  State. J 

Section  10.  [§  i.]  No  State  shall  enter  into  any  Treaty,  Alli- 
^  ance,  or  Confederation;  grant  Letters  of  Marque  and  Reprisal; 
coin  Money ;  emit  Bills  of  Credit ;  make  any  Thing  but  gold  and 
silver  Coin  a  Tender  in  Payment  of  Debts ;  pass  any  Bill  of  At- 
tainder, ex  post  facto  Law,  or  Law  impairing  the  Obligation  of 
Contracts,  or  grant  any  Title  of  Nobility. 

[§  2.]   No  State  shall,  without  the  Consent  of  the  Congress,  lay 

*  Temporary  provision. 

t   F^xtended  by  the  first  eight  Amendments. 

%  Extended  by  Ninth  and  Tenth  Amendments. 


xxiv  APPENDIX  OF  DOCUMENTS 

any  Imposts  or  Duties  on  Imports  or  Exports,  except  what  may 
be  absolutely  necessary  for  executing  its  inspection  Laws  :  and  the 
net  Produce  of  all  Duties  and  Imposts,  laid  by  any  State  on  Im- 
ports or  Exports,  shall  be  for  the  Use  of  the  Treasury  of  the  United 
States ;  and  all  such  Laws  shall  be  subject  to  the  Revision  and 
Controul  of  the  Congress. 
i^  [§  3-]  No  State  shall,  without  the  Consent  of  Congress,  lay  any 
Duty  of  Tonnage,  keep  Troops,  or  Ships  of  War  in  time  of  Peace, 
enter  into  any  Agreement  or  Compact  with  another  State,  or  with 
a  foreign  Power,  or  engage  in  War,  unless  actually  invaded,  or  in 
such  imminent  Danger  as  will  not  admit  of  delay.* 

ARTICLE.  II. 

Section,  i.  [§  i.]  The  executive  Power  shall  be  vested  in  a 
President  of  the  United  States  of  America.  He  shall  hold  his 
Office  during  the  Term  of  four  Years,  and,  together  with  the  Vice 
President,  chosen  for  the  same  Term,  be  elected,  as  follows 

[§  2.]  Each  State  shall  appoint,  in  such  Manner  as  the  Legis- 
lature thereof  may  direct,  a  Number  of  Electors,  equal  to  the 
whole  Number  of  Senators  and  Representatives  to  which  the  State 
may  be  entitled  in  the  Congress  :  but  no  Senator  or  Representative, 
or  Person  holding  an  Office  of  Trust  or  Profit  under  the  United 
States,  shall  be  appointed  an  Elector. 

[The  Electors  shall  meet  in  their  respective  States,  and  vote  by 
Ballot  for  two  Persons,  of  whom  one  at  least  shall  not  be  an  In- 
habitant of  the  same  State  with  themselves.  And  they  shall  make 
a  List  of  all  the  Persons  voted  for,  and  of  the  Number  of  Votes 
for  each;  which  List  they  shall  sign  and  certify,  and  transmit 
sealed  to  the  Seat  of  the  Government  of  the  United  States, 
directed  to  the  President  of  the  Senate.  The  President  of  the 
Senate  shall,  in  the  Presence  of  the  Senate  and  House  of  Repre- 
sentatives, open  all  the  Certificates,  and  the  Votes  shall  then  be 
counted.  The  Person  having  the  greatest  Number  of  Votes  shall 
be  the  President,  if  such  Number  be  a  Majority  of  the  whole  Num- 
ber of  Electors  appointed  ;  and  if  there  be  more  than  one  who  have 
such  Majority,  and  have  an  equal  Number  of  Votes,  then  the 
House  of  Representatives  shall  immediately  chuse  by  Ballot  one 
of  them  for  President;  and  if  no  Person  have  a  Majority,  then 
from  the  five  highest  on  the  List  the  said  House  shall  in  like  Man- 
ner chuse  the  President.  But  in  chusing  the  President,  the  Votes 
shall  be  taken  by  States,  the  Representation  from  each  State  hav- 

*  Extended  by  Thirteenth.  Fourteenth  and  Fifteenth  Amendments. 


THE  CONSTITUTION  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES     xxv 

ing  one  Vote ;  A  quorum  for  this  Purpose  shall  consist  of  a  Mem- 
ber or  Members  from  two  thirds  of  the  States,  and  a  Majority  of 
all  the  States  shall  be  necessary  to  a  Choice.  In  every  Case,  after 
the  Choice  of  the  President,  the  Person  having  the  greatest  Num- 
ber of  Votes  of  the  Electors  shall  be  the  Vice  President.  But  if 
there  should  remain  two  or  more  who  have  equal  Votes,  the  Senate 
shall  chuse  from  them  by  Ballot  the  Vice  President.]  * 

[§  3.]  The  Congress  may  determine  the  Time  of  chusing  the 
Electors,  and  the  Day  on  which  they  shall  give  their  Votes;  which 
Day  shall  be  the  same  throughout  the  United  States. 

[§  4.]  No  Person  except  a  natural  born  Citizen,  or  a  Citizen  of 
the  United  States,  at  the  time  of  the  Adoption  of  this  Constitution, 
shall  be  eligible  to  the  Office  of  President ;  neither  shall  any  Person 
be  eligible  to  that  Office  who  shall  not  have  attained  to  the  Age  of 
thirty  five  Years,  and  been  fourteen  Years  a  Resident  within  the 
United  States. 

[§5.]  In  Case  of  the  Removal  of  the  President  from  Office,  or 
of  his  Death,  Resignation,  or  Inability  to  discharge  the  Powers 
and  Duties  of  the  said  Office,  the  Same  shall  devolve  on  the  Vice 
President,  and  the  Congress  may  by  Law  provide  for  the  Case  of 
Removal,  Death,  Resignation,  or  Inability,  both  of  the  President 
and  Vice  President,  declaring  what  Officer  shall  then  act  as  Presi- 
dent, and  such  Officer  shall  act  accordingly,  until  the  Disability  be 
removed,  or  a  President  shall  be  elected. 

[§  6.]  The  President  shall,  at  stated  Times,  receive  for  his  Ser- 
vices, a  Compensation,  which  shall  neither  be  encreased  nor  dimin- 
ished during  the  Period  for  which  he  shall  have  been  elected,  and 
he  shall  not  receive  within  that  Period  any  other  Emolument  from 
the  United  States,  or  any  of  them. 

[§  7.]  Before  he  enter  on  the  Execution  of  his  Office,  he  shall 
take  the  following  Oath  or  Affirmation:  — 

"  I  do  solemnly  swear  (or  affirm)  that  I  will  faithfully  execute 
the  Office  of  President  of  the  United  States,  and  will  to  the  best 
of  my  Ability,  preserve,  protect  and  defend  the  Constitution  of 
the   United  States." 

Skction.  2.  [§  I.]  The  President  shall  be  Commander  in  Chief 
of  the  Army  and  Navy  of  the  United  States,  and  of  the  Militia  of 
the  several  States,  when  called  into  the  actual  Service  of  the  United 
States;  he  may  require  the  Opinion,  in  writing,  of  the  principal 
Officer  in  each  of  the  executive  Departments,  upon  any  Subject 
relating  to   the  Duties  of  their  respective  Offices,  and  he  shall 

*  Superseded  by  Twelfth  Amendment. 


XXVI  APPENDIX  OF  DOCUMENTS 

have  Power  to  grant  Reprieves  and  Pardons  for  Offences  against 
the  United  States,  except  in  Cases  of  Impeachment. 
^  [§  2.]  He  shall  have  Power,  by  and  with  the  Advice  and  Con- 
sent of  the  Senate,  to  make  Treaties, provided  two  thirds  of  the 
Senators  present  concur;  and  he  shall  nominate,  and  by  and  with 
the  Advice  and  Consent  of  the  Senate,  shall  appoint  Ambassadors, 
other  public  Ministers  and  Consuls,  Judges  of  the  supreme  Court, 
and  all  other  Officers  of  the  United  States,  whose  Appointments 
are  not  herein  otherwise  provided  for,  and  which  shall  be  estab- 
lished by  Law :  but  the  Congress  may  by  Law  vest  the  Appoint- 
ment of  such  inferior  Officers,  as  they  think  proper,  in  the  President 
alone,  in  the  Courts  of  Law,  or  in  the  Heads  of  Departments. 

[§  3.]  The  President  shall  have  Power  to  fill  up  all  Vacancies 
that  may  happen  during  the  Recess  of  the  Senate,  by  granting 
Commissions  which  shall  expire  at  the  End  of  their  next  Session. 

Section.  3.  He  shall  from  time  to  time  give  to  the  Congress 
Information  of  the  State  of  the  Union,  and  recommend  to  their 
Consideration  such  Measures  as  he  shall  judge  necessary  and 
expedient;  he  may,  on  extraordinary  Occasions,  convene  both 
Houses,  or  either  of  them,  and  in  Case  of  Disagreement  between 
them,  with  Respect  to  the  Time  of  Adjournment,  he  may  adjourn 
them  to  such  Time  as  he  shall  think  proper;  he  shall  receive  Am- 
bassadors and  other  public  Ministers;  he  shall  take  Care  that  the 
Laws  be  faithfully  executed,  and  shall  Commission  all  the  Officers 
of  the  United  States. 

Section.  4.  The  President,  Vice  President  and  all  civil  Officers 
of  the  United  States,  shall  be  removed  from  Office  on  Impeach- 
ment for,  and  Conviction  of.  Treason,  Bribery,  or  other  high 
Crimes  and  Misdemeanors. 

ARTICLE    III. 

Section,  i.  The  judicial  Power  of  the  United  States,  shall  be 
vested  in  one  supreme  Court,  and  in  such  inferior  Courts  as  the 
Congress  may  from  time  to  time  ordain  and  establish.  The  Judges, 
both  of  the  supreme  and  inferior  Courts,  shall  hold  their  Offices 
during  good  Behaviour,  and  shall,  at  stated  Times,  receive  for 
their  Services,  a  Compensation,  which  shall  not  be  diminished 
during  their  Continuance  in  Office, 

Section.  2.  [§  i.]  The  judicial  Power  shall  extend  to  all  Cases, 
in  Law  and  Equity,  arising  under  this  Constitution,  the  Laws  of 
the  United  States,  and  Treai^i^^s-  made,  or  which  shall  be  made, 
under  their  Authority; — to  all  Cases  affecting  Ambassadors,  other 


THE  CONSTITUTION  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES     xxvii 

public  Ministers  and  Consuls  ;  —  to  all  Cases  of  admiralty  and  mari- 
time Jurisdiction ; —  to  Controversies  to  which  the  United  States 
shall  be  a  Party;  —  to  Controversies  between  two  or  more  States  ; 
—  between  a  State  and  Citizens  of  another  State;*  —  between 
Citizens  of  different  States,  —  between  Citizens  of  the  same  State 
claiming  Lands  under  Grants  of  different  States,  and  between  a 
State,  or  the  Citizens  thereof,  and  foreign  States,  Citizens  or 
Subjects. 

[§  2.]  In  all  Cases  affecting  Ambassadors,  other  public  Minis- 
ters and  Consuls,  and  those  in  which  a  State  shall  be  Party,  the 
supreme  Court  shall  have  original  Jurisdiction.  In  all  the  other 
Cases  before  mentioned,  the  supreme  Court  shall  have  appellate 
Jurisdiction,  both  as  to  Law  and  Fact,  with  such  Exceptions,  and 
under  such  Regulations  as  the  Congress  shall  make. 

[§  3.]  The  Trial  of  all  Crimes,  except  in  Cases  of  Impeachment, 
shall  be  by  Jury;  and  such  Trial  shall  be  held  in  the  State  where 
the  said  Crimes  shall  have  been  committed ;  but  when  not  com- 
mitted within  any  State,  the  Trial  shall  be  at  such  Place  or  Places 
as  the  Congress  may  by  Law  have  directed. 

Section.  3.  [§  i.J  Treason  against  the  United  States  shall  con- 
sist only  in  levying  War  against  them,  or  in  adiiering  to  their 
Enemies,  giving  them  Aid  and  Comfort.  No  Person  shall  be  con- 
victed of  Treason  unless  on  the  Testimony  of  two  Witnesses  to  the 
same  overt  Act,  or  on  Confession  in  open  Court. 

[§  2.]  The  Congress  shall  have  Power  to  declare  the  Punish- 
ment of  Treason,  but  no  Attainder  of  Treason  shall  work  Corrup- 
tion of  Blood,  or  Forfeiture  except  during  the  Life  of  the  Person 
attainted. 

ARTICLE.    IV. 

Section,  i.  Full  Faith  and  Credit  shall  be  given  in  each  State 
to  the  public  Acts,  Records,  and  judicial  Proceedings  of  every  other 
State.  And  the  Congress  may  by  general  Laws  prescribe  the 
Manner  in  which  such  Acts,  Records  and  Proceedings  shall  be 
proved,  and  the  Effect  thereof. 

Section.  2.  [§  i.]  The  Citizens  of  each  State  shall  be  entitled 
to  all  Privileges  and  Immunities  of  Citizens  in  the  several  States,  f 

[§  2.]  A  Person  charged  in  any  State  with  Treason,  Felony,  or 
other  Crime,  who  shall  flee  from  Justice,  and  be  found  in  another 

*  Limited  by  Eleventh  Amendment, 
t  Extended  by  Fourteenth  Amendment. 


xxviii  APPENDIX  OF  DOCUMENTS 

State,  shall  on  Demand  of  the  executive  Authority  of  the  State 
from  which  he  fled,  be  delivered  up,  to  be  removed  to  the  State 
having  Jurisdiction  of  the  Crime, 

[§  3]  [No  Person  held  to  Service  or  Labour  in  one  State,  under 
the  Laws  thereof,  escaping  into  another,  shall,  in  Consequence  of 
any  Law  or  Regulation  therein,  be  discliarged  from  such  Service 
or  Labour,  but  shall  be  delivered  up  on  Claim  of  the  Party  to  whom 
such  Service  or  Labour  may  be  due.]  * 

Section.  3.  [§  i.]  New  States  may  be  admitted  by  the  Con- 
gress into  this  Union;  but  no  new  State  shall  be  formed  or  erected 
within  the  Jurisdiction  of  any  other  State  ;  nor  any  State  be  formed 
by  tiie  Junction  of  two  or  more  States,  or  Parts  of  States,  without 
the  Consent  of  the  Legislatures  of  the  States  concerned  as  well  as 
of  the  Congress. 

[§  2.]  The  Congress  shall  have  Power  to  dispose  of  and  make 
all  needful  Rules  and  Regulations  respecting  the  Territory  or 
other  Property  belonging  to  the  United  States;  and  nothing  in 
this  Constitution  shall  be  so  construed  as  to  Prejudice  any  Claims 
of  the  United  States,  or  of  any  particular  State. 

Section.  4.  The  United  States  shall  guarantee  to  every  State 
in  this  Union  a  Republican  Form  of  Government,  and  shall  pro- 
tect each  of  them  against  Invasion  ;  and  on  Application  of  the 
Legislature,  or  of  the  Executive  (when  the  Legislature  cannot  be 
convened)  against  domestic  Violence. 

ARTICLE.   V. 

The  Congress,  whenever  two  thirds  of  both  Houses  shall  deem 
it  necessary,  shall  propose  Amendments  to  this  Constitution,  or, 
on  the  Application  of  the  Legislatures  of  two  thirds  of  the  several 
States,  shall  call  a  Convention  for  proposing  Amendments,  which, 
in  either  Case,  shall  be  valid  to  all  Intents  and  Purposes,  as  Part  of 
this  Constitution,  when  ratified  by  the  Legislatures  of  three  fourths 
of  the  several  States,  or  by  Conventions  in  three  fourths  thereof, 
as  the  one  or  the  other  Mode  of  Ratification  may  be  proposed  l)y 
the  Congress ;  Provided  [that  no  Amendment  which  may  be  made 
prior  to  the  Year  One  thousand  eight  hundred  and  eiglit  shall  in 
any  Manner  affect  the  first  and  fourth  Clauses  in  the  Ninth 
Section  of  the  first  Article;  andjf  that  no  State,  without  its  Con- 
sent, shall  be  deprived  of  its  equal  Suffrage  in  the  Senate. 

*  Limited  by  Thirteenth  Amendment, 
t  Temporary  provision. 


THE  CONSTITUTION  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES     xxix 

ARTICLE.   VI. 

r§  r.]  All  Debts  contracted  and  Engagements  entered  into, 
before  the  Adoption  of  this  Constitution,  shall  be  as  valid 
against  the  United  States  under  this  Constitution,  as  under  the 
Confederation.  * 

[§  2.]  This  Constitution,  and  the  Laws  of  the  United  States 
which  shall  be  made  in  Pursuance  thereof  ;  and  all  Treaties  made 
or  which  shall  be  made,  under  the  Authority  of  the  United  States 
shall  be  the  supreme  Law  of  the  Land;  and  the  Judges  in  every 
State  shall  be  bound  thereby,  any  Thing  in  the  Constitution  or 
Laws  of  any  State  to  the  Contrary  notwithstanding. 

[§  3.]  The  Senators  and  Representatives  before  mentioned,  and 
the  Members  of  the  several  State  Legislatures,  and  all  executive 
and  judicial  Officers,  both  of  the  United  States  and  of  the  several 
States,  shall  be  bound  by  Oath  or  Affirmation,  to  support  this 
Constitution;  but  no  religious  Test  shall  ever  be  required  as  a 
Qualification  to  any  Office  or  public  Trust  under  the  United 
States. 

ARTICLE.   VII. 

The  Ratification  of  the  Conventions  of  nine  Statas,  shall  be 
sufficient  for  the  Establishment  of  this  Constitution  between  the 
States  so  ratifying  the  Same. 

Done   in   Convention   by   the    Unanimous  Consent 

of  tlie   States   present   the   Seventeenth  Day   of   Sep- 

[Note  of  the  draughtsman  tember  in  the  Year  of  our  Lord  one  thousand  seven 

as    to   interlineations  in  the  hundred  and  Eighty  seven  and   of  the    Independance 

text  of  the  manuscript.]  of  the    United    States   of  America    the    Twelfth    In 

Attest  Witness  whereof  We  have  hereunto  subscribed  our 

William  Jackson  names,  t 

Secretary.  Go  WASHINGTON  — 

Presidt  and  deputy  from  Virginia. 

[Signatures.] 

AMENDMENTS. 

ARTICLES  in  addition  to  and  Amendment  of  the  Constitution 
of  the  United  States  of  America,  proposed  by  Congress,  and  rati- 
fied by  the  Legislatures  of  the  several  States,  pursuant  to  the  fifth 
Article  of  the  original  Constitution.  % 

*  Extended  by  Fourteenth  Amendment,  Section  4. 
t  These  signatures  have  no  other  legal  force  than  that  of  attestation. 
I  This  heading  appears  only  in  the  joint  resolution  submitting  the 
first  ten  amendments. 


XXX  APPENDIX  OF  DOCUMENTS 

[ARTICLE    I.]* 

Congress  shall  make  no  law  respecting  an  establishment  of 
religion,  or  prohibiting  the  free  exercise  thereof;  or  abridging  the 
freedom  of  speech,  or  of  the  press ;  or  the  right  of  the  people 
peaceably  to  assemble,  and  to  petition  the  Government  for  a 
redress  of  grievances. 

[ARTICLE    II.] 

A  well  regulated  Militia,  being  necessary  to  the  security  of  a 
free  State,  the  right  of  the  people  to  keep  and  bear  Arms,  shall  not 
be  infringed. 

[ARTICLE    III.] 

No  Soldier  shall,  in  time  of  peace  be  quartered  in  any  house, 
without  the  consent  of  the  Owner,  nor  in  time  of  war,  but  in  a 
manner  to  be  prescribed  by  law. 

[ARTICLE    IV.] 

The  right  of  the  people  to  be  secure  in  their  persons,  houses, 
papers,  and  effects,  against  unreasonable  searches  and  seizures, 
shall  not  be  violated,  and  no  Warrants  shall  issue,  but  upon  prob- 
able cause,  supported  by  Oath  or  affirmation,  and  particularly  de- 
scribing the  place  to  be  searched,  and  the  persons  or  things  to  be 
seized. 

[ARTICLE    v.] 

No  person  shall  be  held  to  answer  for  a  capital,  or  otherwise  in- 
famous crime,  unless  on  a  presentment  or  indictment  of  a  Grand 
Jury,  except  in  cases  arising  in  the  land  or  naval  forces,  or  in  the 
Militia,  when  in  actual  service  in  time  of  War  or  public  danger; 
nor  shall  any  person  be  subject  for  the  same  offence  to  be  twice  put 
in  jeopardy  of  life  or  limb;  nor  shall  be  compelled  in  any  criminal 
case  to  be  a  witness  against  himself,  nor  be  deprived  of  life,  liberty, 
or  property,  without  due  process  of  law;  nor  shall  private  property 
be  taken  for  public  use,  without  just  compensation. 

[ARTICLE    VI.] 

In  all  criminal  prosecutions  the  accused  shall  enjoy  the  right  to 
a  speedy  and  public  trial,  by  an  impartial  jury  of  the  State  and  dis- 

*  In  the  original  manuscripts  the  first  twelve  amendments  have  no 
numbers 


THE  CONSTITUTION  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES     xxxi 

trict  wherein  the  crime  shall  have  been  committed,  which  district 
shall  have  been  previously  ascertained  by  law,  and  to  be  informed 
of  the  nature  and  cause  of  the  accusation ;  to  be  confronted  with 
the  witnesses  against  him  ;  to  have  compulsory  process  for  obtain- 
ing witnesses  in  his  favor,  and  to  have  the  Assistance  of  Counsel 
for  his  defence. 

[ARTICLE   VII.] 

In  suits  at  common  law,  where  the  value  in  controversy  shall  ex- 
ceed twenty  dollars,  the  right  of  trial  by  jury  shall  be  preserved, 
and  no  fact  tried  by  a  jury  shall  be  otherwise  re-examined  in  any 
Court  of  the  United  States,  than  according  to  the  rules  of  the 
common  law. 

[ARTICLE   VIIL] 

Excessive  bail  shall  not  be  required,  nor  excessive  fines  imposed, 
nor  cruel  and  unusual  punishments  inflicted. 

[ARTICLE    IX,] 

The  enumeration  in  the  Constitution,  of  certain  rights,  shall  not 
be  construed  to  deny  or  disparage  others  retained  by  the  people. 

[ARTICLE   X.] 

The  powers  not  delegated  to  the  United  States  by  the  Constitu- 
tion, nor  prohibited  by  it  to  the  States,  are  reserved  to  the  States 
respectively  or  to  the  people.* 

[ARTICLE   XL] 

The  Judicial  power  of  the  United  States  shall  not  be  construed 
to  extend  to  any  suit  in  law  or  equity,  commenced  or  prosecuted 
against  one  of  the  United  States  by  Citizens  of  another  State,  or 
by  Citizens  or  Subjects  of  any  Foreign  State.f 

[ARTICLE    XII.] 

The  Electors  shall  meet  in  their  respective  states,  and  vote  by 
ballot  for  President  and  Vice-President,  one  of  whom,  at  least,  shall 
not  be  an  inhabitant  of  the  same  state  with  themselves  ;  they  shall 
name  in  their  ballots  the  person  voted  for  as  President,  and  in  dis- 

*  Amendments  First  to  Tenth  appear  to  have  been  in  force  from 
Nov.  3,  1791. 

t  Proclaimed  to  be  in  force  Jan.  8,  1798. 


e 


xxxii  APPENDIX  OF  DOCUMENTS 

tinct  ballots  the  person  voted  for  as  Vice-President,  and  they  shall 
make  distinct  lists  of  all  persons  voted  for  as  President,  and  of  all 
persons  voted  for  as  Vice-President,  and  of  the  number  of  votes  foi 
each,  which  lists  they  shall  sign  and  certify,  and  transmit  sealed  to 
the  seat  of  the  government  of  the  United  States,  directed  to  the 
President  of  the  Senate  ;  —  The  President  of  the  Senate  shall,  in  the 
presence  of  the  Senate  and  House  of  Representatives,  open  all  the 
certificates  and  the  votes  shall  then  be  counted;  —  The  person  hav- 
ing the  greatest  number  of  votes  for  President,  shall  be  the  Presi- 
dent, if  such  number  be  a  majority  of  the  whole  number  of  Electors 
appointed;  and  if  no  person  have  such  majority,  then  from  the  per- 
sons having  the  highest  numbers  not  exceeding  three  on  the  list  of 
those  voted  for  as  President,  the  House  of  Representatives  shall 
choose  immediately,  by  ballot,  the  President.  But  in  choosing  the 
President,  the  votes  shall  be  taken  by  states,  the  representation 
from  each  state  having  one  vote;  a  quorum  for  this  purpose  shall 
consist  of  a  member  or  members  from  two-thirds  of  the  states,  and 
a  majority  of  all  the  states  shall  be  necessary  to  a  choice.  And  if 
the  House  of  Representatives  shall  not  choose  a  President  whenever 
the  right  of  choice  shall  devolve  upon  them,  before  the  fourth  day 
of  March  next  following,  then  the  Vice-President  shall  act  as  Pres- 
ident, as  in  the  case  of  the  death  or  other  constitutional  disability 
of  the  President.  —  The  person  having  the  greatest  number  of  votes 
as  Vice-President,  shall  be  the  Vice-President,  if  such  number  be  a 
majority  of  the  whole  number  of  Electors  appointed,  and  if  no  per- 
son have  a  majority,  then  from  the  two  highest  numbers  on  the  list, 
the  Senate  shall  choose  the  Vice-President;  a  quorum  for  the  pur- 
pose shall  consist  of  two-thirds  of  the  whole  number  of  Senators, 
and  a  majority  of  the  whole  number  shall  be  necessary  to  a  choice. 
But  no  person  constitutionally  ineligible  to  the  office  of  President 
shall  be  eligible  to  that  of  Vice-President  of  the  United  States.  * 


ARTICLE   XIII. 

Section  i.  Neither  slavery  nor  involuntary  servitude,  except 
as  a  punishment  for  crime  whereof  the  party  shall  have  been  duly 
convicted,  shall  exist  within  the  United  States,  or  any  place  subject 
to  their  jurisdiction.  Section  2.  Congress  shall  have  power  to 
enforce  this  article  by  appropriate  legislation.! 

*  Proclaimed  to  be  in  force  Sept.  25,  1804. 

t  Proclaimed  to  be  in  force  Dec.  18,  1865.  Bears  the  unnecessary 
approval  of  the  President. 


THE  CONSTITUTION  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES      xxxiii 


ARTICLE  XIV. 

Section  i.  All  persons  born  or  naturalized  in  the  United  States, 
and  subject  to  the  jurisdiction  thereof,  are  citizens  of  the  United 
States  and  of  the  State  wherein  they  reside.  No  State  shall  make 
or  enforce  any  law  which  shall  abridge  the  privileges  or  immunities 
of  citizens  of  the  United  States;  nor  shall  any  State  deprive  any 
person  of  life,  liberty,  or  property,  without  due  process  of  law; 
nor  deny  to  any  person  within  its  jurisdiction  the  equal  protection 
of  the  laws. 

Section  2.  Representatives  shall  be  apportioned  among  the 
several  States  according  to  their  respective  numbers,  counting  the 
whole  number  of  persons  in  each  State,  excluding  Indians  not 
taxed.  But  when  the  right  to  vote  at  any  election  for  the  choice  of 
electors  for  President  and  Vice  Tresident  of  the  United  States, 
Representatives  in  Congress,  the  Executive  and  Judicial  officers  of 
a  State,  or  the  members  of  the  Legislature  thereof,  is  denied  to  any 
of  the  male  inhabitants  of  such  State,  being  twenty-one  years  of 
age,  and  citizens  of  the  United  States,  or  in  any  way  abridged,  ex- 
cept for  participation  in  rebellion,  or  other  crime,  the  basis  of 
representation  therein  shall  be  reduced  in  the  proportion  which 
the  number  of  such  male  citizens  shall  bear  to  the  whole  number 
of  male  citizens  twenty-one  years  of  age  in  such  State. 

Section  3.  No  person  shall  be  a  Senator  or  Representative  in 
Congress,  or  elector  of  President  and  Vice  President,  or  hold  any 
office,  civil  or  military,  under  the  United  States,  or  under  any 
State,  who,  having  previously  taken  an  oath,  as  a  member  of 
Congress,  or  as  an  officer  of  the  United  States,  or  as  a  member  of 
any  State  legislature,  or  as  an  executive  or  judicial  officer  of  any 
State,  to  support  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States,  shall  have 
engaged  in  insurrection  or  rebellion  against  the  same,  or  given  aid 
or  comfort  to  the  enemies  thereof.  But  Congress  may  by  a  vote 
of  two-thirds  of  each  House,  remove  such  disability. 

Section  4.  The  validity  of  the  public  debt  of  the  United  States, 
authorized  by  law,  including  debts  incurred  for  payment  of  pen- 
sions and  bounties  for  services  in  suppressing  insurrection  or  re- 
bellion, shall  not  be  questioned.  But  neither  the  United  States 
nor  any  State  shall  assume  or  pay  any  debt  or  obligation  incurred 
in  aid  of  insurrection  or  rebellion  against  the  United  States,  or  any 
claim  for  the  loss  or  emancipation  of  any  slave;  but  all  such  debts, 
obligations  and  claims  shall  be  held  illegal  and  void. 


xxxiv  APPENDIX  OF  DOCUMENTS 

Section  5.  The  Congress  shall  have  power  to  enforce,  by 
appropriate  legislation,  the  provisions  of  this  article.* 

ARTICLE  XV.  t 

Section  i.  The  right  of  citizens  of  the  United  States  to  vote 
shall  not  be  denied  or  abridged  by  the  United  States  or  by  any 
State  on  account  of  race,  color,  or  previous  condition  of  servitude. 

Section  2.  The  Congress  shall  have  power  to  enforce  this 
article  by  appropriate  legislation.  —  J 

ARTICLE  XVI. 

The  Congress  shall  have  power  to  lay  and  collect  taxes  on 
incomes,  from  whatever  source  derived,  without  apportionment 
among  the  several  States,  and  without  regard  to  any  census  or 
enumeration.  ** 

ARTICLE  XVII. 

The  Senate  of  the  United  States  shall  be  composed  of  two 
Senators  from  each  State,  elected  by  the  people  thereof,  for  six 
years;  and  each  Senator  shall  have  one  vote.  The  electors  in 
each  State  shall  have  the  qualifications  requisite  for  electors  of  the 
most  numerous  branch  of  the  State  legislatures. 

When  vacancies  happen  in  the  representation  of  any  State  in 
the  Senate,  the  executive  authority  of  such  State  shall  issue  writs 
of  election  to  fill  such  vacancies:  Provided,  That  the  legislature 
of  any  State  may  empower  the  executive  thereof  to  make  tem- 
porary appointment  until  the  people  fill  the  vacancies  by  election 
as  the  legislature  may  direct. 

This  amendment  shall  not  be  so  construed  as  to  affect  the  elec- 
tion or  term  of  any  Senator  chosen  before  it  becomes  valid  as  part 
of  the  Constitution.  ** 

*   Proclaimed  to  be  in  force  July  28,  1868. 

t  Amendments  Thirteenth,  Fourteenth  and  Fifteenth  are  numbered 
in  the  original  manuscripts. 

X  Proclaimed  to  be  in  force  Mar.  30,  1870. 
**  Adopted,  1913. 


STATE  STATISTICS 


States 


Delaware 
Pennsylvania 
New  Jersey 
Georgia 
Connecticut 
Massachusetts 
Maryland 
South  Carolina 
New  Hampshire 
Virginia 
New  York 
North  Carolina 
Rhode  Island 
Vermont  admitted 
Kentucky  "     . 

Tennessee  " 

Ohio  "     . 

Louisiana  "■     . 

Indiana  "     . 

Mississippi  " 
Illinois  " 

Alabama  " 

Maine  " 

Missouri  " 

Arkansas  " 

Michigan  " 

Florida  " 

Texas  " 

Iowa  " 

Wisconsin  " 

California  •" 
Minnesota  " 
Oregon  " 

Kansas  " 

West  Virginia  " 
Nevada  " 

Nebraska  " 

Colorado  " 

North  Dakota  " 
So.  Dakota  " 
Montana  " 

Washington  " 
Idaho  " 

Wyoming  " 

Utah 

Oklahoma  " 
New  Mexico  " 
Arizona  " 


2 
H 

0) 

J   H 


Date  of 

Admission 


Area  in 
Sq.  Miles 


Population 
i    igio 


March 

4. 

1791 

June 

I, 

1792 

June 

I, 

170b 

Feb. 

iQ, 

180^ 

April 

8, 

1812 

Dec. 

II, 

i8ib 

Dec. 

lO. 

1817 

Dec. 

.s, 

1818 

Dec. 

14. 

1819 

March 

!■;, 

1820 

Aug. 

lO, 

1821 

June 

l.S, 

i8,sb 

Jan. 

2b, 

18^7 

March 

^, 

184'; 

Dec. 

2Q, 

184s 

Dec. 

28, 

184b 

May 

2Q, 

1848 

Sept. 

0, 

i8so 

May 

II, 

i8s8 

Feb. 

14, 

i8so 

Jan. 

2Q, 

i8bi 

June 

IQ. 

i8b.s 

Oct. 

31, 

i8b4 

March 

I, 

i8b7 

Aug. 

I, 

187b 

Nov. 

,^, 

1880 

Nov. 

.S, 

1889 

Nov. 

8, 

1889 

Nov. 

II, 

1889 

July 

.'i. 

1890 

July 

10 

1890 

Jan. 

4, 

i8ob 

Nov. 

lb, 

IQ07 

Jan, 

6 

1912 

Feb. 

14 

1912 

2,050 

45.215 

7, 81 5 

59,475 

4.990 

8,315 

12,210 

30,570 

9.305 

42,450 

49,170 

52,250 

1,250 

9.565 

40,400 

42.050 

41,060 

48,720 

36,350 

46,810 

56,650 

52,250 

33,040 

69,415 

53,850 

58,915 

58,680 

265,780 

56,025 

56,040 

158,360 

83,365 

96,030 

82,080 

24,780 

110,700 

77.510 

103,925 

70,795 

77.65^ 

146,080 

69,180 

84,800 

97,890 

84.970 

70,430 

122.580 

113,020 


202,322 

7,665,111 

2,537.167 

2,609,121 

1,114.756 

3,366,416 

1,295,346 

1,515,400 

430,572 

2,061,612 

9,113,614 

2,206,287 

542.610 

355,956 

2,289,905 

2,184,789 

4,767,121 

1,656,388 

2,700,876 

1,797.114 

5,638,591 

2,138,093 

742,371 

3.293.335 

1,574,449 

2,810,173 

751,139 

3,896,542 

2,224,771 

2,333,860 

2,377,549 

2,075,708 

672,765 

1,690,949 

1,221,119 

81.875 

1,192,214 

799,024 

577,056 

583.888 

376,053 

1,141.990 

325.594 

145.965 

373.351 

1,657,155 

327..301 

204.354 


TERRITORIES,  ETC. 


Alaska  

District  of  Columbia 

Hawaii 

Philippines* 

Porto  Rico 


577,390 
70 

6,500 
140,000 

3,600 


64,356 

331,069 

191,909 

7,635,426 

1,118,012 


AREA  OF  THE  ^UNITED   STATES   IN  SQUARE  MILES 

Area  in  lygo 827,000 

Area  in  1910 3,750,ooo 

The  latter  figures  include  all  of  the  dependencies  of  the  United  States. 


POPULATION  OF   CONTINENTAL   UNITED   STATES   BY   DECADES 

1790 3.92Q.214 

1800 5,308,483 

1810 7,239,881 

1820 9,638,433 

1830 12,866,020 

1840! 17,069,453 

1850 23,191,876 

i860  31,443,321 

1870 38,558,371 

1880 50,155,783 

i8go 62,622,250 

1900 75.477,467 

1910 91,972,266 

If  the  population  of  the  Philippines  and  other  island  dependencies  were  added,  the  total  popula- 
tion at  the  present  time  would  be  about  101,000,000. 


CONGRESS  AND   THE  ELECTORAL  COLLEGE 


States 


Alabama 

Arizona 

Arkansas 

California  . . . . 

Colorado 

Connecticut. . . 

Delaware 

Florida    

Georgia 

Idaho  

Illinois 

Indiana 

Iowa   

Kansas   

Kentucky  .  . . . 

Louisiana 

Maine 

Maryland  .  .  .  . 
Massachusetts 
Michigan  .  . . . 
Minnesota.  . .  . 
Mississippi     .  . 

Missouri 

Montana 

Nebraska 


States 


Nevada 

New  Hampshire 
New  Jersey  .... 
New  Mexico  . . . 

New  York 

North  Carolina. 
North  Dakota. . 

Ohio 

Oklahoma  . .  .►  . 

Oregon  

Pennsylvania  . . 
Rhode  Island  . . 
South  Carolina 
South  Dakota. . 

Tennessee 

Texas 

Utah 

Vermont 

Virginia 

Washington. .  . . 
West  Virginia  . . 

Wisconsin 

Wyoming 

Total 


96 


w> 


I 

3 

2 

4 

12 

14 

I 

.3 

43 

45 

10 

12 

3 

S 

22 

24 

8 

10 

.3 

5 

36 

38 

3 

5 

7 

9 

3 

5 

Two  Territorial  Delegates  — one  each  trora  -^.i.^a  .^.i  Hawau  —  511  in  th^  House  of  Represent- 
atives. These  delegates  are  permitted  to  spaak,  but  not  to  vote.  Porto  Rico  is  represented  m 
Congress  by  a  Commissioner,  and  the  Philippines  by  two  Commissioners 

xxxvi 


INDEX 


"A  B  C"  Powers,  369 
Adams,  John,  98,  358 
Adams,  John  Quincy,  359 
Adams,  Samuel,  98,  390 
Agricultural  colleges,  79,  81 
Agriculture,  department  of,   79-81, 

318,  319 
Alaska,  5,  82;    government  of,  169, 

220,  248 
Aliens,  as  voters,  10,  11 
Allegiance,  of  citizens,  6-8 
;\mbassadors,  242,  310 
Amendments,  to  U.  S.  constitution, 

191-193 
American  Civic  Association,  108 
American  Revolution,  390 
Animal  Industry,  Bureau  of,  79,  318 
Anti-saloon  League,  65,  213 
Anti-trust  laws,  83 
Apportionment  acts,  272,  273 
Arbitration,  of  labor  disputes,   87, 

88;    by  treaties,  381;    permanent 

court  of,  381,  382 
Archives,  bureau  of,  310 
Aristocracy,  176 
Assa>dng  offices,  312,  313 
Assessors  of  the  Town,  97 
Attorney  General,  315 
Auditor  of  the  County,  99 

Ballot,  a  free  and  honest,  15,  16; 
the  Australian,  16,  50;  slip  tickets, 
17;  "party  column,"  18;  "office 
column,"  18;  short,  45,  46,  164; 
preferential,  54-58,  223,  224; 
Bucklin  system,  54-57 

Bancroft,  George,  315 


Banks,  national,  343;  regional,  344, 
345;   pubUc  control  of,  345 

Belligerent,  definition  of,  371;  rights 
of,  371,  372;    vs.    neutrals,    372, 

373 
Berger,  Victor,   215 
"  Big  business,"  83,  211 
Bill  of  attainder,  189 
Bill  of  rights,  186,  187,  389 
Blockade,  249,  376, 377 
"Blue  sky  laws,"  85 
Bond  issues,  351 
Boss,  control  of,  163,  165 
Boston,  town  of,  94 
Bourbon,  the,  210 
Boy  citizens,  28,  29 
Boy  police,  28 
Boy  scouts,  28 

Bryan,  W.  J.,  209,  214,  237,  309 
Buchanan,  President,  81 
Bucklin  system,  of  ballot,  54-57 
Budget  system,  286,  287 
Bureaus  of  government,   308,   309, 

311,  s'^s,  314,  319, 320 

Cabinet,  President's,  186,  203,  204, 
302,  303;  departments  of,  306, 
307;  functions  of,  307;  relation 
to  the  President,  307,  308;  homo- 
geneous character  of,  308;  and 
the  constitution,  308 

Cabinet  government,  164 

Calhoun,  John  C,  198,  254,362,363 

Campaign,  election,  228-231;  com- 
mittees of,  229;  literature,  229; 
funds,  230,  231;   cost  of,  231 

Caucus  bill,  295 


XXX VI 1 


XXXVIII 


INDEX 


Cemetery  trustees,  97 

Census  bureau,  319 

Centralization,  180,  196,  200,  201 

Charge  d'a_ffaires,  310 

Charities,  and  poor  relief,  134,  135 

Charter,  95 

Chemistry,  bureau  of,  319 

Child  welfare,  bureau  of,  81,  320 

Chisholm  vs.  Georgia,  327 

Citizenship,  definition  of,  i;  State 
and  national,  under  the  confeder- 
ation and  the  constitution,  2,  5, 
323;  ways  of  acquiring,  3,  5;  of 
women,  3;  of  children,  3;  of 
Porto  Ricans,  and  Filipinos,  5; 
English  language  and,  4,  5-9; 
method  of  renouncing  or  losing,  5, 
6;  of  Indians,  5;  "hyphenated," 
7,  8;  Bureau  of,  9,  311;  and 
suffrage,  10-19;  and  party,  19- 
22;  obligations  of,  22,  24;  and 
military  service,  23,  24;  activi- 
ties of,  24;  and  the  community, 
26,  27;  obstacles  to  good,  26; 
and  the  public  schools,  29,  30; 
foreign-born  whites,  71;  con- 
stitutional rights  of,  158,  159; 
in  Porto  Rico,  168;  in  Danish 
islands,  168 

City,  the,  definition  of,  no;  prob- 
lem of,  no;  growth  of,  no,  112; 
character  of  population,  in; 
social  conditions  in,  112,  113; 
franchises,  119;  public  health  of, 
133;  public  recreation  in,  133, 
134;  charities  and  poor  rehef, 
134;  poverty  and  crime,  134, 
135;  education  in,  135;  slums 
and  tenements,  135,  136;  "city 
beautiful, "137 
City  government,  iioff.;  increas- 
ing business  of,  114;  home  rule 
for,  115,  116;  relation  to  state 
legislatures,  1x5;  officers,  118; 
councilmen,  or  aldermen,  118; 
mayor,  118;  administrative  de- 
partments,   118;     revenues,    118, 


119;  official  abuses  of,  120; 
political  parties  in,  120,  121; 
commission  form  of,  122  fi.;  bene- 
fits of,  and  objections  to,  125, 
126;  Galveston  plan  of,  122- 
124;  Des  Moines  plan,  com- 
mission form,  124;  manager 
plan  of,  128-131;  Dayton,  experi- 
ment in,  130;   police,  133 

City  manager,  1 28-131 

Civic  clubs,  139 

Civic  spirit,  26-29 

Civil  liberty  and  justice,  389-391 

"Civil  oflicers,"  268 

Civil  service  commission,  320 

Civil  War,  200 

Clerk,  town,  97;   county,  99 

Cleveland,  President,  207,  235,  243, 
256,  366, 367 

Cloture  rule,  in  Congress,  290 

Coinage,  337 

Coins,  340,  341;  subsidiary,  341, 
342 

Collector  of  taxes,  97 

Colonialism,  168 

Colonies,  Thirteen  original,  95,  q6 

Commerce,  department  of,  82,  319 

Commission  form,  of  city  govern- 
ment, 122  ff.  See  also  City  gov- 
ernment 

Committee  system,  of  Congress,  186; 
evils  and  benefits  of,  288,  289 

Common  law,  328 

Community,  and  the  citizen,  26, 
94  ff.;   activities  of,  28 

Community  centers,  106 

Community  civics,  definition  of,  96, 
108 

Comptroller  of  treasury,  312 

Concord,  390 

Confederate  states,  198 

Confederation,  i,  196,  198;  con- 
gress of,  271,  272 

Conference  committee,  in  Congress, 

294 
Conflict  of  laws,  328 
Congress,    committee   system,    186; 


INDEX 


xxxix 


implied  powers  of,  187,  1S8; 
powers  of,  199;  relation  to  Presi- 
dent, 301  ff.;  influences  the  Presi- 
dent, 303,  304.  See  also  House  of 
Representatives,  Senate 

Congressional  campaign  committee, 
231,  232 

Congressional  district,  size  of,  273 

Congressional  township,  102;  School 
fund,  102 

Congressman  at  large,  275 

Conservatism,  183,  184,  210,  211 

Conservative,  the,  defined,  210; 
compared  to  radical,  210,  211 

Constables,  town,  97;   county,  99 

Constitution  (of  United  States),  fol- 
lowing the  flag,  5 ;  compared  with 
England's,  183;  and  civil  rights, 
184;  unwritten  features  of,  185, 
186;  growth  of,  185-187,  191, 
194;  restrictions  of,  189;  dis- 
tribution and  classification  of 
powers  under,  189,  190;  theory 
of,  190;  inherent  and  resulting 
powers  under,  190;  amending 
process,  191-193;  construction  of, 
188,  189,  194,  208;  national 
vs.  federal  principle  under,  198, 
199 

Constitution,  written  and  unwritten, 
182  ff.;  flexible  or  rigid,  183; 
benefits  of  a  written,  186,  245, 
277,  302;  application  of  principles 
in  the,  389-396 

Constitutions,  of  States,  changes  in, 
41,  143,  145;  provisions  of,  144; 
how  made,  144;  power  of  Con- 
gress over,  144;  method  of 
amending,  144;  power  of  courts 
over,  41,  147,  157 

Consular  service,  310 

Continental  Congress,  resolution  of 
1780  on  western  lands,  167 

Contraband  goods,  private  trade  in, 

374,  375 
Convention  of,  1787,  192,  271 
Conventions,  nominating,  47,  48,  52 


Corporations,  bureau  of,  319 

Counterfeiting,  313 

County,  system  of  government  in 
Virginia,  96;  functions  of,  98; 
size  and  population  of,  q8; 
oSicers  of,  and  their  functions, 
98-102;  Commissioners,  Board  of, 
99;  coroner,  duties  of,  99,  loi, 
102;  clerk,  duties  of,  100;  audi- 
tor, duties  of,  100,  loi 

Courts,  delays  of,  25,  26;  civil  and 
criminal  in  the  county,  99;  and 
the  constitution,  157;  need  of 
reform,  160 

Courts,  federal,  kinds  of,  325; 
classes  of,  325;  appointment  and 
tenure  of,  325;  salaries  of,  325; 
cases  under,  326,  328;  cases 
transferred  from  State  courts,  326; 
final  judge  of  national  powers, 
327;  officers  of,  329;  power  to 
declare  legislative  acts  unconsti- 
tutional, 329-331 

"Court-made  law,"  335 

Criminal  classes,  62-64 

Cromwell,  Oliver,  390 

Currency,  elastic,  344 

Currency  commission,  82 

Customs  duties,  349 

Danish  islands,  168 

Dayton,  experiment  in  city  manage- 
ment, 130 

Davis,  Jefferson,  198 

Debs,  E.  v.,  215 

Decatur,  Commodore,  famous  toast 
of,  246 

Declaration  of  Independence,  182, 
380;    principles  of,  386-388;    393 

Declaration  of  Paris,  1856;  principles 

of,  376,  377 
Democracy,     problems     in,     32  ff; 

direct,    42;     definition    of,    176; 

kinds    of,     177;      representative, 

177;     military   training   in,    179; 

spirit  of,  390 
Democratic  party,  207  ff, 


xl 


INDEX 


Demonstration  farms,  79 

Dependencies,  167  ff. 

Dependents,  62-65 

Des  Moines,  plan  of  city  govern- 
ment, 124 

Diplomacy,  President's  power  in, 
242 

Diplomatic  bureau,  310 

Diplomatic  service,  310 

Direct  legislation,  see  Initiative  and 
Referendum 

District  of  Columbia,  government 
of,  172 

Dorchester,  town  of,  94 

Dorr's  rebellion,  255 

Double  allegiance,  6-8;  Roosevelt 
on,  9 

Drainage,  80 

Dred  Scott  case,  i 

Education,  Bureau  of,  318;  univer- 
sal, 393,  394 

Elections,  15-19,  232 

Electoral  college,  238;  advantages 
and  disadvantages  of,  239-241 

Eleventh  amendment,  192,  327 

Eliot,  President  Charles  W.,  394 

Employment  bureau,  82 

England,  source  of  constitutional 
government,  183 

English-speaking  peoples,  unity  of, 
370,  371 

Engraving  and  printing,  bureau  of, 

3",  ?>'i3 

European  nations  and  the  Monroe 
Doctrine,  368 

Ex  post  facto  laws,  187-189 

Executive,  in  harmony  with  legis- 
lative, 304 

Executive  departments,  308  ff. 

Expatriation,  5,  6 

Expenditures,  of  Congress,  285,  286, 
287 

Experiment  stations,  79 

Extradition,  149 

Factory  inspection,  86 


Farmers'  Alliance,  213 
Federal   nation,   compared   to  con- 
federation,  197;    complex  nature 

of,  198,  199,  201 
Federal    republic,    196  ff.     See   also 

Republic,  Federal  nation,  Union 
Federal  reserve  act,  343 
Federal  reserve  notes,  341,  343 
Federal  trade  commission,  321 
Federal  Union,  the,  181 
Federalist,  the,  253 
Fifteenth   amendment,    10,    11,    12, 

192 
Filisbustering,  in  Congress,  290,  291 
Fisheries,  bureau  of,  319 
Florida,  5 

Forestry,  bureau  of,  319 
Foreign  affairs  and  popular  rule,  381 
Foreign    policy,    of    America,    357; 

of  George  Washington,  357-359 
Foreign    relations,    a    new    era    in 

American,  383,  384 
Fourteenth  amendment,  2,  11,  192 
France,  government  of,  180;   treaty 

with,  357,  358;  360,  363,  364,  365, 

366 
Franchises,  city,  119 

Galveston,  plan  of  city  government, 
122-124 

"Gateway  amendment,"  193 

Geodetic  survey,  319 

Geological  survey,  82,  318 

George  III,  tyranny  of,  390 

German  cruisers,  372,  373 

Gerry,  Governor,  273 

Gerrymander,  273;  legal  difficulties 
of,  274 

Government,  changes  in  since  1787, 
32-35;  machinery  of,  35;  "experi- 
ment stations"  in,  36;  Oregon 
system  of,  36;  enlarging  powers 
of,  76  ff.;  early  notion  of,  76; 
new  activities  in,  78  ff.;  com- 
missions, 82,  83;  regulations  for 
public  welfare,  83-88;  Colonial, 
94;    by  commercial  corporations, 


INDEX 


xli 


95;  local  developed  into  State,  Q5; 
local,  Q5;  development  of  State 
and  national,  95;  origin  of  repre- 
sentative in  America,  95;  couniy, 
system  of  96-102;  county- 
township,  system  of,  96,  102; 
town,  system  of,  96-98;  forms  and 
functions  of,  173  ff.;  scope  of, 
174-175;    divisions  of,  234 

Government  printing  office,  321 

Governor  State,  153-155,  162 

"  Grandfather  laws,"  12 

Granges,  213 

Grant,  Ulysses  S.,  365 

Great  Britain,  96;  attitude  of, 
toward  international  law,  356, 
357,  359,  360,  366,  367 

Great  War,  the,  369 

"Green  goods,"  313 

Greenbacks,  340 

Guarantee  clause,  255 

Habeas  corpus,  suspension  of,  249, 
252 

Hague  Tribunal,  the,  381,  382 

Hamilton,  Alexander,  on  implied 
powers,  188,  204,  253,  261,  302 

Hampden,  390 

Hawaii,  5;  government  of,  169;  220 

Hemans,  Mrs.,  392 

Henry,  Patrick,  390 

High  finance,  85 

Highway  officers,  97 

Holy  alliance  of  1815,  360 

Home  economics,  80 

Homesteaders,  102 

House  of  Representatives,  national, 
in  treaty-making,  246-248;  dif- 
ference from  the  Senate,  272; 
apportionment  for,  272;  election 
of  members,  275,  276;  qualifica- 
tions and  privileges  of,  276; 
sessions  of,  277;  district  residence 
required  for,  277;  salaries  in,  278; 
vacancies  in,  279;  officers  of, 
279-281;  speaker  of,  280-283; 
party  caucuses  of,  280;    "whip" 


in,  283;  committee  system  of, 
283-286;  ways  and  means  com- 
mittee of,  285,  286;  committee  of 
the  whole,  290;  filibustering  in, 
290,  291;  cloture  rule  in,  290,  291; 
quorum  in,  291,  292;  method  of 
voting  in,  293;  conference  com- 
mittee of,  294;  caucus  bill  in,  295; 
powers  of,  297;  poHtics  and 
patronage  in,  298,  299 

Ideals,  importance  of,  386;  in 
government,  386-396 

Immigration,  67-73;  problem  of,  68; 
bureau  of,  69,  320;  extent  of, 
69;  restrictions  on,  69-72;  Bur- 
nett bill,  70;   benefits  of,  72,  73 

Impeachment,  267-269,  303 

Imperialism,  168 

Implied  powers,  187,  188 

Income  tax,  192,  212,  215,  351,  354 

Indeterminate  sentence,  63 

Indian  affairs,  317 

Industrial  disputes,  settlement  of, 
87,  88 

Inherent  powers,  190 

Initiative  and  referendum,  36-43; 
causes  for,  37;  method  of,  37;  old 
forms  of,  38;  advantages  of,  39; 
objections  to,  39-42;  relation  of 
to  the  powers  of  the  judiciary,  41, 

215 

Interior  department,  82 
International  court,  382 
International  law,  character  of,  355; 

subjects  of,  356;    scope  and  basis 

of,    356,    357;     sources    of,    357; 

Institute  of,  379 
Interstate  commerce  commission,  82, 

320,  321 
Interstate  obligations,  148,  149 
Investments,  protection  of,  85 
Irrigation,  80 

Jackson,  President,  use  of  veto,  244— 
245;  removals  of,  254,  279,  303, 
307 


xlii 


INDEX 


Jay,  Chief  Justice,  327 

Jefferson,  Thomas,  and  early  gov- 
ernment, 76,  77,  91,  161,  162;  on 
imphed  powers,  188,  204,  235,  251, 
301,  330,  358,  359,  361,  390,  393, 

394,  395 

Johnson,  President,  207,  254,  268 

Juarez,  365 

Judges,  recall  of,  44 

Judicial  supremacy,  vs.  legislative 
supremacy,  331-333 

Judiciary,  State,  155,  156;  national, 
323  ff.;  under  the  Old  Confeder- 
ation, 323,  324 

Jury,  service,  22;  trial  by,  158,  187; 
grand  and  petit,  158,  159 

Justice,  department  of,  315,  316 

Kipling,  Rudyard,  390 

Labor,  department  of,  82,  320;  sta- 
tistics of,  320 

Labor  laws,  86 

Labor  reform  parties,  213 

Land  system,  102 

Law,  enforcement  of,  24;  respect 
for,  25;  kinds  of  in  America,  332; 
of  the  constitution,  332;  "court- 
made,"  335;  obedience  to,  392,  393 

Law,  International,  355,  357 

Laws,  how  made,  in  the  State,  152, 
153;   in  Congress,  289-292 

Legal  tender,  341 

Lexington,  390 

Liberal,  the,  211 

Liberty  bonds,  351 

Library  of  Congress,  321 

Library,  trustees  of  town,  97 

Lighthouses,  319 

Lincoln,  President,  war  powers  of, 
249,  250,  251,  307,  309,  365,  366, 

392,  393,  395 

Liquor  traffic,  regulation  of,  64-66; 
"blind  tiger,"  90 

Local  government,  nonpartisan,  53; 
benefits  of,  104;  national  impor- 
tance of,  105;   forms  of,  96-102 


Log-rolling,  163,  266,  299,  302 
London,  Meyer,  215 
Lusitania,  the,  378,  379 

Magna  Charta,  25,  250 

Majority,  the  rule  of  the,  392,  393 

Marbury  vs.  Madison,  329 

Markets,  office  of,  80 

Marshall,  John,  construction  of  the 
constitution,  188-189,  194,  324, 
329,  330 

Massachusetts,  "Civill  Body  Poli- 
tick," 94 

Maximilian,  364,  366 

Mayflower  compact,  94 

"Melting  pot,"  the,  9 

Merit  system,  60,  61 

Merryman  case,  251,  252 

Mexican  cessions,  5 

Mexican  War,  362 

Mexico,  the  case  of,  363-366; 
European  intervention  in,  363 

Middle  West,  township  of,  102 

Military  service,  23 

Mihtarism,  178;   danger  of,  252 

Military  training,  179 

Militia,  243,  nationalization  of,  394 

Mine  inspection,  86 

Ministers,  310 

INIint,  director  of,  312;  locations  of, 
312 

Mob  law,  24 

Monarchy,  175 

Monetary  system,  importance  of, 
342,  343 

Money,  kinds  of,  337,  339,  340; 
standard  of,  338;  functions  of, 
338;  value  of,  339;  quantitative 
theory  of,  339;  gold  and  silver, 
340;  legal  tender,  quality  of,  341; 
coin  and  bullion,  value  of,  342; 
government    regulation    of,    344, 

345 
Money  order  service,  79 
Monopolies,  protection  against,  83; 

natural,  88 
Monroe    Doctrine,     the,     359-361; 


INDEX 


xliii 


applications  of,  362-370;  en- 
larged, 367,  368;  European 
nations  and,  368;  permanent  pur- 
pose of,  36Q;  German  hostility  to, 
36Q,    370;     a    "world    doctrine," 

369,  370 
"Moonshining,"3i3 
Mugwumps,  20 
Munitions,  embargo  on,  375 

Napoleon  III,  364 

Nation,  the  larger  community,  96; 

the  foreign  relations  of,  355-385; 

the  domestic  affairs  of,  356 
National  bank  notes,  341 
National  banking  system,  343,  344 
National    government,    restrictions 

on,  189;   inherent  powers  of,  190; 

expenses  of,  347 
National  law,  applied  to  individuals, 

323>  324 

National  municipal  league,  131 

National  museum,  320 

National  party  committees,  218  ff. 

National  party  conventions,  219  tl.; 
"call"  for,  219;  number  of  dele- 
gates in,  219;  basis  of  repre- 
sentation in,  220;  readjustment  of 
representation  in,  220,  221;  con- 
tested delegates  in,  221;  election 
of  delegates  to,  222;  differences 
between  Democratic  and  Repub- 
lican, 222;  instructions  of  dele- 
gates to,  222-223;  organization 
of,  224,  225;  procedure  of,  225, 
226;   committees  of,  225 

National  powers,  growth  of,  89-91 

National  unity,  77 

National  vs.  federal  principle,  198  ff. 

National  voters'  league,  299 

Nationalization,  forces  leading  to, 
200 

Naturalization,  definition  and  proc- 
ess of,  3,  4;  aliens  barred  from, 
4;   bureau  of,  4,  320 

Naval  academy,  315 

Navigation,  bureau  of,  319 


Navy  department,  315 

Neutral,     definition     of     a,     372; 

struggle  of,  for  rights,  375,  376 
Neutrality,  proclamation  of,  358 
Nevada,  168,  271 
New  England,  council  or  assembly 

in,  95;   county  in,  99 
New  Haven,  town  government  in,  97 
Nominations,    by    petition,    S3ff.; 

minority  control  in,  54;   See  also 

Conventions,  Primary 
Noncolonization,  359,  360 
Nonintervention,  360 

Oligarcy,  178 

Ordinance  of  1785,  102 

Oregon  system  of  government,  36, 

255 
Organized  charity,  62-64 
Otis,  James,  98 
Overseers  of  the  poor,  97 

Panics,  342,  344 

Parliament,  supremacy  of,  331,  332 
Parties,  past  and  present,  2035.; 
defined,  205;  historic  issues  and 
divisions  between,  207-209;  in 
and  out  of  power,  208;  minor, 
213;      national     committees     of, 

218  ff.;    national  conventions  of, 

219  ff. 

Party,  independence  of,  and  alle- 
giance to,  20-22;  false  loyalty  to, 
53;  and  local  government,  53; 
machinery  of,  218  ff.;  method 
of  nominating  and  electing  presi- 
dents, 218  ff. 

Patents,  82 

Patriotism,  27 

Patronage,  298;  and  the  President, 
302 

Peace,   league   for   enforcement   of, 

383 
Pensions,  82;   Bureau  of,  317 
People's  party,  213,  214 
Philippine  Islands,  5;    government 

of,  171,  172,  220 


xliv 


INDEX 


Pilgrim  Fathers,  04,  383 

Plant  Industry,  Bureau  of,  79,  318 

Platform,  party,  51;    225 

Plymouth,  town  of,  94 

Police  powers,  65 

Polk,  President,  248,  362 

Populists,  "middle  of  the  road," 
214.     See  also  People's  party 

"Pork  barrel,"  163,  277,  298,  299 

Porto  Rico,  168;  government  of, 
169,  220 

Postal  department,  78,  79,  316 

Postal  savings  banks,  78,  312 

Postmaster  General,  316 

Poverty  and  crime,  62-65,  134)  ^35 

Preferential  ballot,  54-58 

President  (of  U.  S.),  voting  for,  11, 
185,  189;  as  party  leader,  203, 
204;  method  of  nominating  and 
electing,  218  ff.;  growth  in  powers 
of,  234,  235;  relation  to  Congress, 
234-236,  301  ff.;  term  and  quali- 
fications of,  236,  237;  method  of 
election,  237,  238;  powers  and 
duties  of,  241-243;  veto  power  of, 
243-245;  treaty-making  power 
of,  246-248;  war  powers  of,  248- 
252;  power  of  appointment  and 
removal,  252-254;  power  to 
protect  the  States,  255-256; 
duty  to  execute  laws,  256;  and 
"senatorial  courtesy,"  266,  267; 
impeachment  of,  267-269;  how 
he  influences  Congress,  301-303; 
and  patronage,  302 

Presidential  electors,  185,  237,  23S 

Presidential  succession,  305 

Presidential  Succession  Act,  306 

Previous  question,  291 

Price  and  value,  338 

Primary,  party,  46,  47;  State 
control  of,  48;  essential  features 
in,  49,  50;  Australian  ballot  in, 
50;  and  party  platform,  51; 
objections  to,  51,  52;  presidential 
preference,  223,  224 

Prime  minister,  234 


Privateering,  377 

Progressive  policies,  206,  212,  214 

Progressives,  the,  211,  214 

Prohibition,  64-66 

Prohibition  party,  213 

Proportional   representation,    58-60 

Protection,  sec  Tariff 

Prussia,  360,  369,  370 

Public  health,  67,  133 

Public  opinion,  power  of,  24,  27 

Public   revenues,    346;     sources   of, 

348,  349,  352 
Public  service  corporations,  88 
Public  utiUties,  control  of,  88,  89; 

commission  for,  89;  in  cities,  132, 

133 
Publicity  of  campaign  funds,  231 
Pure  food  laws,  84,  319 
Pym,  390 

Quorum,  in  Congress,  291,  292 

Radical,  the,  defined,  210;  com- 
pared to  conservative,  210,  211 

Reactionary,  210 

Recall,  the,  43;   of  judges,  44 

Reclamation  bureau,  80 

Reconstruction  acts,  10 

Recorder,  99;    duties  of,  loi 

Recreation,  public,  133,  134 

Referendum,  see  Initiative 

Removing  power,  in  the  State,  155 

Registry  of  treasury,  312 

Religion,  freedom  of,  391 

Representation,  English  and  Ameri- 
can ideas  compared,  277,  278 

Republic,  177;  essential  features  of, 
179-180;  centralized  and  de- 
centralized, 180;  the  federal, 
196  ff. 

Republican  party,  207  ff. 

Resulting  powers,  190 

"Riders,"  legislative,  296,  304 

Rights  of  Nations,  379,  380 

"Ripper"  legislation,  121 

Road-making,  104,  105 

Roosevelt,  President,  209,  235 


INDEX 


xlv 


Root,  Elihu,  on  State  and  national 

powers,  go.  gi 
Rural  free  delivery,  78 
Rural  government,   104;    and  city, 

Russia,  35g,  360 

Salem,  the  town  of,  g4 
School  Committees,  gy 
Schools,  Superintendent  of,  gg,  loi 
Secret  service,  313,  315,  316 
Secretary  of  State,  3og,  310 
Selectmen,  gy 

Self-government,  a  goal,  iy3 
Senate  (U.  S.),  in  treaty-making, 
246-248;  composition  of,  258; 
termsof  members,  258;  method  of 
election  to,  258,  25g;  character 
of,  2sg,  260;  classes  in,  25g; 
presiding  officer  of,  25g,  268; 
purposes  in  the  creation  of,  261; 
legislative  powers  of,  261,  262, 
2gy,  2g8;  executive  powers  of, 
262-264;  growing  importance  of, 
263;  executive  session  of,  264; 
secret  sessions  of,  264;  courtesy 
of,  265,  26y;  power  over  appoint- 
ments, 265;  judicial  powers  of, 
26y-26g;  reasons  for  success  of, 
26g,  2yo 
Separation    of    powers,    theory    of, 

234, 23s 
Seventeenth  amendment,  ig3,  2Sg 
Seward,  William  H.,  363,  365 
Sheriff,  duties  of  the,  gg,  100 
Sixteenth  amendment,  192 
Smithsonian  Institution,  320 
Social  conditions,  changes  in,  yy,  y8 
Sociahsts,  211,  214,  216 
"Solid  South,"  207 
South  America,  361 
Spain,  363 

Spanish- American  War,  5 
Speaker,   of   the   House   of   Repre- 
sentatives, 280-283,  292,  2g3 
Spoils  system,  60,  61,  132,  254,  26y 
Spokane,  city  government  of,  127 


State,  department  of,  3og,  310 

State  powers,  decline  of,  8g-gi 

States  rights,  81,  go;  how  defined, 
146-149,  2oy,  208,  22y,  324,  330; 
States,  suffrage  in,  13;  unity  of 
local  government,  116,  117;  im- 
portance of,  142;  powers  of,  142, 
143;  constitutions  of,  143,  145; 
original  powers  of,  145,  146; 
legislatures,  150,  151;  executives 
of,  153,  154;  officers,  153;  ad- 
ministration of  justice  in,  157- 
i5g;  defects  and  failures  of  gov- 
ernment in,  160-163;  responsible 
leadership  in,  162;  proposed 
reforms  in,  163-165;  restrictions 
on,  i8g,  190;  relation  to  nation, 
196  ff.;  relation  of  counties  to, 
197;  relation  to  international 
law,  356,  357 

Statistics,  Bureau  of,  320 

Steamboat  inspection,  319 

Stuart  kings,  tyranny  of  the,  390 

Submarines,  378 

Suffrage,  and  citizenship,  10;  and 
fifteenth  amendment,  10;  and 
aliens,  10,  11;  determined  by 
States,  11;  qualifications  for,  11, 
12;  a  "right"  or  a  "privilege," 
12;  democratic  basis  for,  13;  rule 
for  determining,  13;  manhood, 
14;  argument  for  extended,  14; 
women  and,  15,  212,  215 

Sumptuary  legislation,  77 

Supreme  court,  as  judge  of  the  con- 
stitution, 147,  243,  32s,  329-332; 
and  poUtics,  333;  decisions  of, 
334;   control  of,  334 

Surplus,  evils  of,  286 

Surveyor,  of  county,  102 

Sweatshops,  86 

Taft,  President,  171,  209,  235,  237 
Taney,  Chief  Justice,  249,  251 
Tariff,    revision    of,    207;     Wilson- 
Gorman,  243;    34g 
Tariff  commission,  83 


xlvi 


INDEX 


Taxation,  justice  in,  346;  prin- 
ciples of,  347;  power  of  national 
government  in,  348;  limitations 
on,  348,  34q;  internal,  350;  State 
and  local,  352,  353 

Tenure  of  Office  act,  254 

Territories,  government  of,  167  ff.; 
organizing  acts  for,  167;  method 
of  changing  into  States,  168,  169; 
acquisition  of,  169 

"Third  parties,"  213;  see  also 
Parties 

Thirteenth  amendment,  192 

Tickets,  see  Ballot 

Topographical  survey,  82 

Town  system  of  government  in  New 
England,  96-98;  meeting  in  New 
England,  97,  98;  officers  of,  97 

Towns,  federation  of,  95 

Township  trustee,  103 

Trade  commission,  83 

Treasurer,  of  the  town,  97;  of  the 
county,  100;  of  U.  S.,  312 

Treasury,  department  of,  311,  312 

Treaties,  arbitration  by,  381 

Treaty-making  power,  246-248 

Twelfth  amendment,  192 

Two-thirds  rule,  in  democratic 
national  convention,  226,  227,  228 

Unconstitutional  laws,  41 

Union,  American,  compared  to  solar 
system,  200,  201;  see  also  Repub- 
lic, Federal  Republic;  and  na- 
tionality, 395 

Unit  rule,  in  party  conventions,  227, 
228 

United  States,  changes  in  govern- 
ment, 32,  33;  independence  of, 
96 

Universities,  rise  of,  in  States,  102 

Valley  Forge,  390 
Value,  and  price,  338,  339 
Venezuela,  the  case  of,  366,  367 
Veto,      of       President,       243-245; 
"  pocket,"  244;  theory  and  prac- 


tice of,  in  England  and  America, 

Vice  Presidency,  voting  for,  n; 
nomination  for,  228;  qualifications 
for,  237;  method  of  electing  to, 
237-239;   functions  of,  259,  305 

Virginia,  "Civil!  Body  PoUtick,"  94; 
House  of  Burgesses,  95;  county 
system  of  government  in,  96; 
University  of,  393 

Virtual  representation,  278 

"Visit  and  search,"  right  of,  373 

Voters,  see  Suffrage 

Voting,  straight  and  scratched,  19; 
machines  for,  19;  method  of,  19; 
blind,  45 

Waite,  Henry  M.,  130 

War,  definition  of,  371 

War  amendments,  192 

War  department,  82,  313-315;  gen- 
eral staff,  314 

War  savings  stamps,  351 

Washington,  George,  32,  33;  atti- 
tude toward  parties,  204,  235, 
236,  390 

Washington,  city,  172 

Weather  bureau,  79,  318 

Weaver,  James  B.,  213 

Webb-Kenyon  act,  66 

West  Indies,  357 

"Whip,"  in  Congress,  283 

Wilson,  President,  5,  70,  171,  207, 
235,  236,  249,  301,  309,  368,  369, 

394 
Women,  citizenship  of,  3;    see  also 

Suffrage,    Citizenship 
Workmen's  compensation  laws,  87 
World  Community,  96 
World    Peace,    379-384;     ideal    of, 

395,  396 
World  War,  249,  317,  321;  America's 
purpose  in,  395,  396 

Yeardley,  Governor,  95 
Yucatan,  the  case  of,  362,  363 


ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 

Acknowledgements  are  due  to  the  following  for  illustrations:  to  Collier's 
Weekly  for  "  Scientist  at  Work  in  Dairy  Laboratory";  to  Child  Welfare 
Committee,  New  York  City,  for  "  Children  Working  in  a  Cannery,"  "At 
the  Milk  Station,"  "Seward  Park  Playground";  to  The  Independent  ior 
"Immigration  Chart,"  page  69,  "Employees'  Dining  Room  in  an  Indus- 
trial Establishment";  to  Good  Roads  Magazine  for  "A  Road  before  and 
after  Improvement  ";  to  American  City  Magazine  for  "  Health  Message  to 
the  People,"  "  Beginners'  Class  in  a  Moonlight  School,"  "  New  City  Hall, 
Oakland,  California,"  "  Chart  Illustrating  the  New  and  the  Old  Way  in 
Spokane;  "  to  the  Social  Hj'giene  Association,  New  York  City,  for  "A 
City  Dispensary";  to  Messrs.  Foster  and  Reynolds,  New  York  City,  for 
"The  Executive  Offices,"  "  U.  S.  Senate  Office  Building,"  "Office  Build- 
ing, House  of  Representatives,"  "  President's  Room  at  the  Capitol," 
"Treasury  Department,"  "A  Silver  Vault,  U.  S.  Treasury,"  "Patent 
Office  ";  to  the  Bureau  of  Census  for  map  of  "  Per  Cent  of  Foreign-born 
and  Native-born  Whites  in  U.  S.  ";  to  National  Voters  League  for  chart 
of  "  Field  of  Congressional  Government."  .Also  to  George  H.  Doran 
Company  for  the  quotation  from  Roosevelt's  "The  Children  of  the 
Crucible,"  on  page  9. 


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